India reported an average 381 deaths by suicide daily in 2019, totalling 1,39,123 fatalities over the year, according to the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data. A 3.4 percent increase was observed in suicides during 2019 (1,39,123 suicides) as compared to 2018 (1,34,516) and 2017 (1,29,887), the data showed.
The rate of suicide (incidents per 1 lakh population) rose by 0.2 percent in 2019 over 2018, as per the data. According to the statistics by the NCRB, which functions under the Union Home Ministry, the suicide rate in cities (13.9 percent) was higher as compared to all-India suicide rate (10.4 percent) in 2019.
Suicide by 'hanging' (53.6 percent), consuming poison' (25.8 percent), 'drowning' (5.2 percent) and 'self-immolation' (3.8 percent) were the prominent means of committing suicides during the year, the data showed.
Family problems (other than marriage-related issues) were behind 32.4 percent of suicides, marriage-related problems (5.5 percent) and illness (17.1 percent) together accounted for 55 percent of the total suicides in the country during 2019, it stated.
For every 100 suicide deaths, 70.2 were male and 29.8 females, the NCRB, which collects data from police recorded cases, stated. Nearly 68.4 percent of the male victims were married, whereas the ratio was 62.5 percent for female victims, the data showed.
Majority of suicides were reported in Maharashtra (18,916), followed by 13,493 in Tamil Nadu, 12,665 in West Bengal, 12,457 in Madhya Pradesh and 11,288 in Karnataka, accounting for 13.6 percent, 9.7 percent, 9.1 percent, 9 percent and 8.1 percent of total such deaths, respectively.
These five states together accounted for 49.5 percent of the total suicides reported in the country and the rest 50.5 percent suicides were reported in the remaining 24 states and 7 UTs, the data showed.
Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state, reported comparatively lower percentage share of suicidal deaths, accounting for only 3.9 percent of the total suicides in the country, it added.
Maximum cases of mass/family suicide were reported from Tamil Nadu (16) followed by Andhra Pradesh (14), Kerala (11), Punjab (9) and Rajasthan (7), the NCRB data showed.
In terms of education, 12.6 percent victims of suicide were illiterate, 16.3 percent up to primary level, 19.6 percent up to middle level and 23.3 percent up to matric level. Only 3.7 percent of total suicide victims were graduates and above, it showed.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) states that suicide is a serious public health problem and is preventable with timely, evidence-based and often low-cost interventions.
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