In the southern states, the highest number of suicides was reported from Tamil Nadu (18,925 cases) in 2021, the second highest in the country.
Published Sep 08, 2022 | 2:09 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 08, 2022 | 2:11 PM
In Telangana and Kerala the suicide rate is 26.9 percent, estimating one in every 4,000 individual in these states died by suicide. (Representational Image /Creative Commons)
One out of every 4,500 individuals in the five South Indian states died by suicide in 2021, while in the remaining 23 states and eight union territories of the country, one in every 10,500 people ended their lives.
The latest data on Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India-2021, released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), reveals that 59,768 individuals (36.43 percent) have died by suicide in the five southern states — Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana.
The country reported a total of 1,64,033 suicide cases in 2021, an increase of 7.2 percent in comparison to 2020 when 1,53,052 individuals died by suicide.
In 2021, the highest number of suicides was reported in Maharashtra, where 22,207 individuals took the extreme step due to various reasons.
In the southern states, the highest number of suicides in 2021 was reported in Tamil Nadu (18,925 cases), the second-highest in the country.
In the same time period, 13,056 (8 percent) individuals died by suicide in Karnataka, the fifth-highest in the country, followed by Telangana (10,171 individuals 6.2 percent), the sixth-highest in the country; Kerala (9,549 people, 5.8 percent), the seventh-highest in the country; and Andhra Pradesh (8,067 people, 4.9 percent), the ninth highest in the country.
The suicide rate — deaths per 1 lakh population — of the five southern states was double that of the remaining 23 states and eight union territories.
In southern states, the suicide rate was 22.16 percent, while in the remaining states it was 9.5 percent. Overall, the country's suicide rate was 12 percent.
The suicide rates in Telangana and Kerala were the highest among the southern states. Combined, they stood at 26.9 percent, meaning more than one in every 4,000 individuals in these states died by suicide.
The rate was 24.70 percent in Tamil Nadu, 19.50 percent in Karnataka, and 15.30 percent in Andhra Pradesh.
Telangana in 2021 witnessed a 26.2 percent increase in the number of suicides, whereas the hike was 14.5 percent in Andhra Pradesh, 12.3 percent in Kerala, 12.1 percent in Tamil Nadu, and 6.5 percent in Karnataka.
The maximum cases of mass or family suicides were reported in Tamil Nadu (33 percent of the nationwide total), followed by Rajasthan (25 percent), Andhra Pradesh (22 percent) and Kerala (12 percent).
According to the NCRB, the major reason for suicides in the southern states was family issues.
In Tamil Nadu, 5,413 individuals die by suicide due to family issues, while in Telangana, that number was 3,748.
Meanwhile, 2,382 individuals died by suicide due to family issues in Karnataka, 3,590 in Kerala, and 2,469 in Andhra Pradesh.
Illness was another major cause of suicide in the southern states.
The report said 5,386 individuals died by suicide due to illness in Tamil Nadu, 3,042 in Karnataka, 2,469 in Andhra Pradesh, 2,006 in Kerala, and 1,542 in Telangana.
By profession, daily wage earners made up for the largest group of people who died by suicide in the southern states.
In total, 6,766 daily wage earners died by suicide in Tamil Nadu, followed by Telangana (3,522), Kerala (3,206), Andhra Pradesh (2,468), and Karnataka (2,039).
Tamil Nadu also reported the highest number of cases of student suicides in South India.
In all, 1,246 students died by suicide in the state, followed by Karnataka (855), Telangana (567), Andhra Pradesh (523), and Kerala (497).
According to the NCRB data, a large number of individuals who earned less than ₹1 lakh per annum (₹8,333 per month) died by suicide in the southern states.
In Tamil Nadu, 13,678 individuals who earned less than ₹1 lakh per annum died by suicide. It was followed by Karnataka (8,058), Kerala (5,998), Telangana (4,354), and Andhra Pradesh (4,173).
Chennai reported the highest number of suicide cases among the major cities in South India in 2021.
The city reported 2,699 cases of suicide, followed by Bengaluru (2,292), Hyderabad (571), Kollam (487), Vijayawada (385), Visakhapatnam (378), and Thiruvananthapuram (344).
However, Kollam, a city in Kerala, had the highest suicide rate at 43.9 percent, which meant one in every 2,278 individuals there died by suicide in 2021.
A total of 1,64,033 suicides were reported in the country in 2021, showing an increase of 7.2 percent from 2020.
The states and Union Territories which reported the highest percentage increase in suicides in 2021 over 2020 are Telangana (26.2 percent), Uttar Pradesh (23.5 percent), Puducherry (23.5 percent), Andhra Pradesh (14.5 percent), Kerala (12.3 percent), Tamil Nadu (12.1 percent), Maharashtra (11.5 percent) and Manipur (11.4 percent).
The highest percentage decrease was reported in Lakshadweep (50 percent), Uttarakhand (24 percent), and Jharkhand (15 percent).
The rate of suicides has been widely accepted as a standard yardstick for comparison. The all-India rate of suicides was 12 during the year 2021.
Andaman and Nicobar Islands reported the highest rate of suicide (39.7) followed by Sikkim (39.2), Puducherry (31.8), Telangana (26.9) and Kerala (26.9).
The suicide rate in cities (16.1) is higher compared to the all-India suicide rate (12.0).
According to the data, family problems (33.2 percent), marriage-related problems (4.8 percent) and illness (18.6 percent) together accounted for 56.6 percent of the total suicides in the country last year.
The overall male-female ratio of suicide victims was 72.5: 27.5 in the country.
