Japan's 2019 Suicide Record Lowest in Nearly 50 Years - Reports

TOKYO (Sputnik) - There were 20,169 suicides in Japan last year, which is the lowest number since the country began recording the statistics in 1978, according to the police data, published by NHK TV channel.

Until now, the lowest number of suicides was registered in 1981, with 20,434 people taking their own lives that year. Beginning in 1998, the annual suicide numbers started to exceed 30,000, peaking in 2003 with 34,000 suicides. Since 2012, however, the number has been steadily decreasing.

Most of those who resorted to such a measure were males - 14,078. The highest level of suicides per 100,000 people was registered in the prefectures of Yamanashi, Iwate and Akita.

The Japanese government aims to decrease the suicide level per 100,000 to 13 by the year 2025, making it close to countries like Germany and the United States. It is currently at 15.8.