Japan suicide rates soar as economy suffers from coronavirus pandemic

People wear masks as they walk to work in Tokyo's Shinjuku district

Credit: Kiyoshi Ota /Bloomberg 

Suicide rates in Japan have soared to the highest level in five years, as the coronavirus pandemic takes its toll on the world’s third largest economy.

A total of 2,153 people killed themselves during October, a monthly increase of more than 300, according to preliminary police data.

Suicide rates across Japan have been climbing since July, but the October figures mark the highest monthly tally since 2015.

The surge in people taking their own lives has been widely attributed to the economic impact of the pandemic, which resulted in 870,000 job losses in Japan in the first seven months of the year, according to government figures.

Women have been hit hardest by the redundancies, with female workers more likely to be in temporary employment in the retail or services industries, which have been heavily impacted by the pandemic.

This gender bias is reflected in the latest figures. Although fewer women than men committed suicide in October — 851 compared to 1,302 — the rate among women was up more than 80 per cent compared to the same month last year. Among men the rate rose 21 per cent.

The news comes as Japanese officials warned that as temperatures start to drop, the coronavirus would continue to spread at speed unless more rigorous preventative measures were taken.

The government’s Covid-19 advisory subcommittee this week compiled an emergency proposal urging that border controls should be enhanced and actions to combat cluster infections stepped up.

The number of daily infections appears to be rising in parts of the country, even as life began to return to some level of normality in many places.

Tokyo recorded 300 new infections on Wednesday, the highest level in the capital since late August. Most people who tested positive were reported to be in their 30s.

Cases are also spiking in areas such as northernmost Hokkaido, one of the coldest regions in Japan, where a record 200 positive results were logged on Monday.

National figures remain relatively low compared to other parts of the world, however, with around 110,000 infections and 1,800 deaths so far.