Suicides first hit 30,000 in the 100 years. The numbers in Hokuriku also surged [25 years ago today]

 

The suicide number in 1998 exceeded 30,000 for the first time since statistics began in 1899, the worst ever (35% increase from the previous year), according to the statistics released by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare on the 11th. The numbers in Hokuriku prefectures also increased sharply from the previous year, with 195 suicides in Fukui Prefecture and 281 suicides in Ishikawa Prefecture.

Q. Why did the number of suicides surge 25 years ago?

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare announced the impact of the bubble economy burst in 1991 cannot be denied because the number of suicides among men in their 40s and 50s was so high. The Daiwa Institute of Research later analyzed that the negative impact on the household sector appeared in 1998. The number of suicides remained at over 30,000 for about a decade after that, but decreased in the 2010s and has been gradually increasing again since the 2020s recently. In 2022, the number of suicides in Ishikawa Prefecture was 193 (an increase of 43), in Fukui Prefecture was 114 (a decrease of 16), and in Toyama Prefecture was 211 (an increase of 14).

参考
令和４年版自殺対策白書 - 厚生労働省
1998年を節目とした日本経済の変貌 - 大和総研
富山県の自殺動向 - 富山県
福井県自殺対策計画 - 福井県
令和４年中の石川県内における自殺者数について - 石川県