Suicides in country increased by 4.2 per cent in 2022: NCRB data

The majority of suicides were reported in Maharashtra (22,746), followed by 19,834 in Tamil Nadu, 15,386 in Madhya Pradesh, 13,606 in Karnataka and 12,669 in West Bengal accounting for 13.3 per cent, 11.6 per cent, 9.0 per cent, 8.0 per cent and 7.4 per cent of total suicides respectively, reports ETV Bharat’s Gautam Debroy.

New Delhi:In a startlingrevelation, the latest data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) on Monday said that a total of 1,70,924 suicides were reported in the country during 2022 showing an increase of 4.2 per cent in comparison to 2021 when 1,64,033 were reported. According to the data, the rate of suicides per lakh population has increased by 3.3 per cent during 2022 over 2021. The overall male: female ratio of suicide victims for the year 2022 was 71.8: 28.2, which is less as compared to the year 2021 (72.5: 27.4). The proportion of female victims was more in ‘Marriage Related Issues’ (specifically in ‘Dowry Related Issues’), and ‘Impotency/Infertility’.

The age group (18-below 30 years) and persons 30 years - below 45 years of age were the most vulnerable groups resorting to suicides. These age groups accounted for 34.6 per cent and 31.8 per cent of suicides respectively. 'Family Problems' (2,556), ‘Love Affairs’ (1,578) and ‘Illness’ (1,292) were the main causes of suicides among children (below 18 years of age).

Housewives accounted for 52.5 per cent of the total female victims (25,309 out of 48,172) and constituted nearly 14.8 per cent of total victims who committed suicides (25,309 out of 1,70,924) in 2022. Government servants accounted for 1.3 per cent (2,166) as compared to 6.7 per cent (11,486) from Private Sector Enterprises out of 1,70,924 total victims.

Employees from Public Sector Undertakings formed 1.6 per cent (2,712), whereas students and unemployed victims accounted for 7.6 per cent (13,044 victims) and 9.2 per cent (15,783 victims) of total suicides respectively. The self-employed category accounted for 11.4 per cent of total suicide victims (19,484 out of 1,70,924). A total of 11,290 persons involved in the farming sector (consisting of 5,207 farmers/cultivators and 6,083 agricultural labourers) have committed suicides during 2022, accounting for 6.6 per cent of total suicides victims (1,70,924) in the country.

Out of 5,207 farmer/cultivator suicides, a total of 4,999 were male and 208 were female. The majority of suicides were reported in Maharashtra (22,746) followed by 19,834 suicides in Tamil Nadu, 15,386 suicides in Madhya Pradesh, 13,606 suicides in Karnataka and 12,669 suicides in West Bengal accounting for 13.3 per cent, 11.6 per cent, 9.0 per cent, 8.0 per cent and 7.4 per cent of total suicides respectively.

“These 5 States together accounted for 49.3 per cent of the total suicides reported in the country. The remaining 50.7 per cent of suicides were reported in the remaining 23 States and 8 UTs. Uttar Pradesh, the most populous State (17.0 per cent share of the country's population) has reported a comparatively lower percentage share of suicidal deaths, accounting for only 4.8 per cent of the total suicides reported in the country,” the NCRB data said.

Delhi, which is the most populous UT, has reported the highest number of suicides (3,417) among UTs, followed by Puducherry (481). A total of 26,282 suicides were reported in the 53 mega cities of the country during 2022.

The States and UTs which have reported a higher percentage increase in suicides in 2022 over 2021 were Lakshadweep (100.0 per cent), Mizoram (54.5 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (37.8 per cent), Jammu & Kashmir UT (30.8 per cent), Delhi UT (20.3 per cent), D&N Haveli and Daman & Diu (19.9 per cent), Jharkhand (19.5 per cent), Ladakh (18.2 per cent) and Nagaland (14.0 per cent), while highest percentage decrease was reported in Manipur (46.9 per cent), Himachal Pradesh (27.6 per cent), Bihar (15.1 per cent), Tripura (7.5 per cent) and Arunachal Pradesh (6.9 per cent).

‘Family Problems’ and ‘Illness’ were the major causes of suicides which accounted for 31.7 per cent and 18.4 per cent of total suicides respectively in 2022, the NCRB data said.

‘Drug Abuse/ Alcoholic Addiction’ (6.8 per cent), ‘Marriage Related Issues’ (4.8 per cent), ‘Love Affairs’ (4.5 per cent), ‘Bankruptcy or Indebtedness’ (4.1 per cent), ‘Unemployment’ (1.9 per cent) ,‘Failure in Examination’ (1.2 per cent), ‘Professional/Career Problem’ (1.2 per cent), ‘Death of Dear Person’ (1.2 percent) and ‘Property Dispute’ (1.1 per cent) were other causes of suicides.