Photo/Illutration Students and municipal officials take part in a suicide-prevention campaign in Kobe in March 2021. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Alarming new statistics show the number of suicides among youths in Japan has reached its highest level on record, with 514 students aged 18 or under taking their own lives in 2022.

The figure topped 500 for the first time since 1980, when the survey started, according to welfare ministry data released on March 14.

The government survey covers schools for students 6 to 18 years old.

A breakdown of the data shows 354 were high school students mainly aged between 15 and 18, and 143 were junior high school students typically aged 12 to 15.

The figure has remained elevated throughout the pandemic.

It jumped by 100 to a record 499 in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic started, and remained high the following year.

Total suicides in the country reached 21,881, up 874, or 4.2 percent, from 2021, the first increase in two years.

While most people end their lives for a combination of reasons, the ministry said health problems were the leading cause in 12,774 cases, while family issues were a contributing factor in 4,775 deaths and financial distress played a role in 4,697.

Broken down by gender, 14,746 men and 7,135 women took their lives. Men saw their first increase in 13 years, up 807 year on year, while the figure for women has surged for three straight years, up 67 in 2022.

The largest age demographic was people in their 50s at 18.7 percent, followed by those in their 40s at 16.7 percent.

The suicide rate was 17.5 per 100,000 people across the country, up by 0.8 from the previous year. The rate for men ticked up to 24.3, which is 1.5 higher than 2021.

By prefecture, Yamanashi had the highest figure at 24.7, followed by Akita with 23.7 and Miyazaki with 22.7.

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