Student suicides in India: Shocking stats

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) paints a grim picture with its data. In two thousand nineteen alone, over ten thousand students committed suicide, a number that is both shocking and heartbreaking.

This tragic trend has been escalating, with academic pressure, family issues, and mental health struggles being significant contributors. These numbers represent real lives cut short, dreams shattered, and families torn apart by an unimaginable loss.

For the state, it is crucial to address these underlying causes to prevent further loss of young lives. What is pushing our children to this brink of despair? And more importantly, what can we do to prevent it?

Student suicides: Disturbing statistics

The NCRB data reveals that a total of 13,089 students committed suicide in 2021, representing a significant increase from the 7,696 student suicides reported in 2011. The statistics demonstrate a consistent upward trend in student suicides in India since 2011. Additionally, the percentage of students among the overall suicide victims in the country has also risen, reaching 8% in 2021, up by 2.3 percentage points since 2011.

The ADSI report for 2022 by the NCRB is the sole publicly accessible dataset in India regarding suicide deaths, revealing a significant increase in suicide rates since the initial report in 1966. In 2022, the suicide rate rose by 4.2% from the previous year, reaching 12.4 per 100,000 population (1,64,033 to 1,70,924) – the highest rate recorded in 56 years.

This year marked the introduction of the National Suicide Prevention Strategy by the Government of India, a commendable initiative aimed at establishing a nationwide approach to suicide prevention. The strategy set a clear goal of reducing suicide deaths by 10% compared to the baseline year of 2020.

Suicide rates increased across all age groups by an average of 5%, except for individuals under 18 years old, where a slight decrease was observed.

Young adults aged 18-30 years represented the largest share of suicides in 2022 at 35%, followed closely by adults aged 30 to 45 years at 32%.

Together, these two age groups accounted for 67% of all suicide deaths in the country.

The NCRB report also highlighted the professions of individuals who committed suicide. Approximately 77% of all suicides were among six professional categories. Daily wage workers, as in the previous year, comprised over one-quarter of all suicide deaths, showing an 8% increase from the previous year.

Housewives were the second-highest category identified by the NCRB, representing 15% of all suicides and experiencing the largest increase from 2021 to 2022 at 9%.

Suicides among self-employed individuals ranked third at 11% of the total, followed by salaried persons at 10%. The suicide rate among salaried individuals increased by 3% compared to the previous year.

Both unemployed individuals and students accounted for 8% of the total suicides.