Photo/Illutration The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

The number of suicides in Japan in 2024 was the second lowest on record, but there was an increase in students and others between 15 and 29 who killed themselves, according to the health ministry.

According to a summary of the ministry’s white paper on suicide prevention for the current fiscal year, 20,320 people committed suicide last year.

Only 2019 had fewer suicides since the government started compiling such statistics in 1978.

The number of women who killed themselves fell for the second straight year, while the number of male suicides dropped for the first time in three years.

But there were 1,077 suicides among people, including students, between 15 and 29, an increase of 58 over 2023.

The white paper analyzed suicides according to the type of student involved and whether the individual had a job.

Among students at universities or vocational schools, the main cause of suicide for men was failing educational achievement, while health concerns were the biggest factor among women.

Among university students, there was a peak in the number of suicides at age 21, suggesting that both men and women worried about what they would do after graduation.

The full white paper to be released in autumn will contain specific measures to help deal with the various circumstances behind the suicides.

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