As per the NCRB, 64.3% suicide victims were reported to have an annual income of less than Rs one lakh
Representational Photo from iStock A total of 1,70,924 suicides were reported in India in 2022, an increase of 4.2 per cent compared to 2021, according to the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report released on December 4, 2023.
The rate of suicide has also increased by 3.3 per cent for the same period. The rate of suicide is calculated as the number of suicides per lakh (1,00,000) of population in a reference year.
Maharashtra, for the third consecutive year, recorded the highest number of suicide cases (22,746), followed by Tamil Nadu (19,834), according to the report released on December 4.
Family problems (31.7 per cent) and illness (18.4 per cent) were the primary causes of suicides recorded in 2022. Unemployment and professional issues accounted for 1.9 per cent and 1.2 per cent respectively.
Daily wage earners accounted for the highest number of victims. As many as 44,713 daily wage earners (26.4 per cent) — 41,433 male and 3,752 female daily wage earners — ended their lives in 2022.
This figure is higher compared to 2021, when daily wage earners dying by suicide accounted for 25.6 per cent of the total victims.
Professionals accounted for 9.2 per cent, with 14,395 salaried persons and 18,357 self-employed persons recorded as victims.
Among states, Tamil Nadu registered the highest number of suicides (7,876 cases). Maharashtra (6,275), Madhya Pradesh (5,371) and Telangana (4,513) were next on the list.
The other states that recorded high number of cases were Kerala (3,613), Gujarat (3,122), Andhra Pradesh (2,889), Karnataka (2,602) and Chhattisgarh (2,557).
According to the NCRB, 1,09,875 suicide victims — 64.3 per cent — were reported to have an annual income of less than Rs one lakh. Some 52,429 suicide victims (30.7 per cent) earned between Rs one lakh and Rs five lakh per annum.
Bankruptcy and indebtedness also added to the cause of suicides and was higher compared to the previous two years. The number of people committing suicide due to bankruptcy and indebtedness in 2022 increased to 7,034, from 6,361 in 2021.
Maharashtra reported the maximum number of cases of suicides because of bankruptcy and indebtedness (1,941), followed by Karnataka (1,401). Telangana reported 1,163 cases, while Andhra Pradesh recorded 912 cases and Tamil Nadu 844 cases.
However, suicides due to unemployment dropped marginally from 3,541 reported in 2021 to 3,170 in 2022.
A total of 15,783 suicide victims were reported unemployed, constituting 9.2 per cent of the total number of victims. Kerala reported the highest such cases in the country, with 2,204 victims committing suicide due to unemployment.
Tamil Nadu reported the second-highest number at 1,875 cases. States such as Maharashtra recorded 1,694 cases. They were followed by Uttar Pradesh (1,541), Karnataka (1,236), Assam (924), Madhya Pradesh (812) and Delhi (773).
Professional or career issues were the cause of 2,083 suicides — a drop from 2,593 in 2021. The majority of the cases were recorded from Maharashtra (640), followed by Gujarat (341) and Karnataka (237) among others.
Among cities, Bengaluru recorded the highest cases (121), followed by Delhi (77) and Ahmedabad (71).
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