Pandemic raises Japan suicide rate after decade of decline
Japan’s suicide rate rose in 2020 after more than a decade of decline. The article examines the pandemic’s impact and the groups most affected by the reversal.
The number of people taking their own lives in Japan rose for the first time in over a decade last year, as the pandemic reversed years of progress combating a stubbornly high suicide rate.
The health ministry said Friday that 20,919 people died by suicide in 2020 according to preliminary data, up 3.7% from the previous year. That compares with 3,460 deaths from coronavirus in the same period.