Trigger Warning: This article talks about suicide. If you or someone you know needs help mail icall@tiss.edu or dial 022-25521111 (Monday-Saturday, 8am to 10pm) to reach iCall, a psychosocial helpline set up by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS). You can also call +91-9820466726 to reach Aasra, a 24/7 helpline for emotional crisis situations, mental illness issues, and suicidal ideation.
The National Crimes Records Bureau (NCRB) report, 'Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India (ASDI)', released on Saturday, revealed that suicide rates increased in 2021, affecting daily wage workers and housewives the most, followed by self-employed people. Among men, the highest rate of suicide was among the daily wage earners while for women it was among housewives.
India recorded a total of 1,64,033 suicide deaths in 2021 in comparison to 2020 when 1,53,052 people died by suicide — a 7.2% increase. The number of suicide deaths in 2019 was 1,39,000. The number of deaths by suicide per lakh population stood at 12.0%, compared to 11.3% in 2020 and 10.4% in 2019.
Here's a look at key points from the report:
Daily wagers, housewives account for most suicides
Daily wage earners accounted for 25.6% of suicide deaths reported in 2021, the highest in India. The total number of deaths among daily wage earners was 42,004 — 37,751 men, 4,246 women and seven transgender people. This was an increase from 2020 when daily wage earners accounted for 24.6% of suicide deaths in India. Deaths among daily wage earners have consistently increased since this category was introduced by the NCRB in 2014 when it was 12%.
The second highest rate of suicide was reported among housewives that accounting for 14.1% of all suicide deaths in India. The report said, "Housewives accounted for 51.5% of the total female victims (23,179 out of 45,026) and nearly 14.1% of victims who committed suicides (23,179 out of 1,64,033) during 2021."
Suicide deaths among self-employed people saw the biggest rise, accounting for 12.3% of suicide deaths in India in 2021, compared to 11.3% in 2020.
Most suicides were because of family problems
Family problems accounted for 33.2% of all reported suicides in India in 2021, the most cited cause. This stood at 33.6% in 2020. The second highest category was illnesses, which accounted for 18.6% of total suicides, a slight increase from 18.0% in 2020. "'Drug Abuse/ Alcoholic Addiction' (6.4%), 'Marriage Related Issues' (4.8%), 'Love Affairs' (4.6%), 'Bankruptcy or Indebtedness' (3.9%), 'Unemployment' (2.2%) ,'Failure in Examination' (1.0%), 'Professional/Career Problem' (1.6%) and 'Poverty' (1.1%) were other causes of suicides," the NCRB report said.
Maharashtra saw the highest number of suicides
The state that saw the highest number of suicides was Maharashtra with 22,207 reported deaths in 2021. This was "followed by 18,925 suicides in Tamil Nadu, 14,965 suicides in Madhya Pradesh, 13,500 suicides in West Bengal and 13,056 suicides in Karnataka accounting for 13.5%, 11.5%, 9.1%, 8.2% and 8.0% of total suicides respectively." The same five states accounted for the highest number of suicide deaths in 2020 as well, with 19,909 suicides recorded in Maharashtra, 16,883 in Tamil Nadu, 14,578 suicides in Madhya Pradesh, 13,103 suicides in West Bengal and 12,259 suicides in Karnataka.
These states together added up to 50.4% of the total suicides reported in India in 2021.
The report said, "Maximum cases of mass/family suicide were reported from Tamil Nadu (33) followed by Rajasthan (25), Andhra Pradesh (22) and Kerala (12)."
Farming related suicides
According to the NCRB report, farming-related suicides in 2021 stood at 10,881 as compared to 10,677 in 2020. In 2021, this included 5,318 farmers or cultivators and 5,563 agricultural labourers. Among the total farmer suicides in 2021, 5,107 were male and 211 were female, the report said.
Suicide rates are higher in big cities
The report said that cities in India showed higher rates of suicide at 16.1% than the rest of India. Delhi recorded the highest number, with 2,760 suicide deaths in 2021. Delhi saw a decline in suicide deaths as compared to 2020 when 3,142 such deaths had been reported. "Chennai has shown an increase of 11.1% (from 2,430 suicides to 2,699 suicides), Bengaluru 4.4% (from 2,196 suicides to 2,292 suicides) and Mumbai has observed an increase of 12.0% (from 1,282 suicides to 1,436 suicides)," the report said.
Of deaths recorded from 53 megacities in India, these four cities together reported almost 35.5% of the total number of suicides in 2021.