TOKYO: The number of suicides among school children in Japan reached a record high in 2024, marking the highest figure since record-keeping began in 1980, Chief Cabinet Secretary Keiichiro Tachibana said on Wednesday, according to Sputnik/RIA Novosti.
“While the overall number of suicides last year was the second-lowest since 1978, the number among elementary, middle, and high school students reached 527 — the highest on record since 1980. This is a matter of grave concern,“ Tachibana told a news conference.
Japan recorded a total of 22,068 suicides in 2024, which is 1,569 fewer than in the previous year. However, child suicides broke the previous record of 514 observed in 2022. Experts linked the 2022 surge in child deaths to the return of in-person schooling, which exposed vulnerable students to renewed social pressures, conflicts and bullying.
