Student Suicides in India Exceed That of Others: Report

New Delhi: Student suicides in India are on the rise at an alarming rate, exceeding the population growth and overall suicide trends, stated a report, titled “Student Suicides: An Epidemic Sweeping India.”

This report was released on Wednesday during the Annual IC3 Conference and Expo 2024.

This report analyzed the data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) and came up with the conclusion that while overall suicide rates in India have risen by 2% annually, the rate of student suicides has increased by 4%.

“Over the past decade, while the population of individuals aged 0-24 decreased from 582 million to 581 million, the number of student suicides rose sharply from 6,654 to 13,044,” the report stated.

In 2023, the IC3 Institute released its first report on student suicides, stating that over 13,000 students died by suicide in 2022 in India.

Total suicides (students and other people) increased by 4.2 percent, from 164,033 in 2021 to 170,924 in 2022.

Over the last 10 and 20 years, total suicides increased 2 percent annually on average while student suicides increased 4 percent – i.e. 2 times that of total suicides.

Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Madhya Pradesh reported one-third of the country’s total student suicide count.

While the population of 0-24-year-olds was reduced from 582 million to 581 million, the number of student suicides increased from 6,654 to 13,044.