Suicides in Japan hit record low Suicides in Japan have fallen to their lowest number in more than 40 years, bringing the overall figure to below 20,000 a year for the first time since record-keeping began in 1978 Total deaths by suicide Suicides per 100,000 people 2003: Peak in suicides alarms policy makers 2019: By gender, 13,937 men and 6,022 women took their lives 34,427 32,325 32,552 32,155 33,093 32,249 32,845 31,690 30,651 27,858 27,283 25,427 24,025 21,897 21,321 20,840 19,959 27.0 25.3 25.5 25.1 25.8 25.2 25.7 24.7 24.0 21.8 21.4 20.0 18.9 17.3 16.8 16.3 15.8 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Suicide rates (per 100 000 people, latest available) Italy 5.7 Spain 6.8 UK 7.3 Netherlands 10.5 Norway 11.6 Australia 11.9 U.S. 13.9 Hungary 15.1 Japan 15.8 Belgium 15.9 Slovenia, Latvia 18.1 Lithuania 24.4 South Korea 24.6 Sources: National Police Agency, Kyodo, Reuters, OECD © GRAPHIC NEWS