Increased suicide mortality in Japan during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020

Abstract

Socioeconomic stagnation and social isolation due to the spread of novel coronavirus disease 2019 might have contributed to the increase in suicide mortality in 2020. Using Joinpoint regression analysis, we estimated the expected suicide mortality in 2020 based on suicide mortality from 2011 to 2019, and compared results to the actual suicide mortality in Japan. We found that actual suicide mortality was significantly higher than the expected mortality among both men (excess mortality rate: 107.0%) and women (120.1%). This higher excess suicide mortality rate was particularly notable in women aged in their 20 s (154.0%) and 30s-40 s (130.7%).