‘Daily wage earners’ biggest group among death by suicides in 2021: NCRB

The “daily wage earners” were the largest group to die by suicide in India in 2021. According to the latest report by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), a total of 42,004 daily wage earners died by suicide out of the total suicides of 1,64,033, accounting for one in every four death by suicide.

According to The Indian Express, a report by NCRB titled “Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India” showed that the professional group has been the largest group to die by suicide for the past two years. In 2020, 37,666 daily wage earners died by suicide, accounting for 24.6 per cent of all deaths by suicide.

The rate of increase of deaths by suicide in daily wage earners was also faster than the national average, the report added. Between 2020 and 2021, the number of deaths by suicide increased by 7.17 per cent on a national level, while for daily wage earners, it was 11.52 per cent.

“Self-employed persons”, on the other hand, saw the highest increase in the number of death by suicides. Between 2020 and 2021, their death by suicide increased by 16.73 per cent. With 20,231 deaths, this group accounted for 12.3 per cent or nearly 1 in every eight suicides in the country.

Death by suicide in “housewives” was recorded at 23,179 in 2021. This was 3.6 per cent higher than in 2020, but out of the total, they accounted for 14.1 per cent of all death by suicides.

10,881 suicides were recorded in the “Persons engaged in the farming sector” group in 2021, including 5,318 under “farmer/cultivator” and 5,563 under “agricultural labourers”.

The report defines a “farmer” as someone who cultivates on his own or leased land. While “agricultural labourers” work in the farming sector, their main income source is agricultural labour activities.

The only group that saw a dip in the number of deaths by suicide was “unemployed persons”. From 15,652 death by suicides in 2020, their number fell to 13,714 in 2021.

The NCRB report categorises suicide data into nine professional categories: students, professional/ salaried persons, daily wage earners, retired persons, unemployed persons, self-employed persons, housewives, persons engaged in the farming sector, and other persons.