W-4. Suicide Rate (per 100,000 population)
1.Current Values
25.5 persons / 100,000 (in 2003)
2.Current Points (out of a perfect score of 100 by 2050)
43 points
Calculation method:
(Current value - minimum value) / (2050 target
value - minimum value) x 100
3. Explanation of Indicator
All people want to live lives that are
satisfying and have value both materially and
spiritually. Currently there is an increase, however,
of people who, for a variety reasons such as health
problems, financial problems, or personal problems,
have lost their mental balance and can no longer
see the value of living.
From 1998 onward, when the number of suicides
in Japan topped 30,000, the number has been on
the increase. Suicides are among the top causes
of death (either first or second place) in the
10 year-old to 40 year-old range; suicides among
the elderly have also increased. Japan's suicide
rate is among the highest in the world. Why is
this the case when there is such economic affluence?
We have chosen the suicide rate as an indicator
because of the need to revisit the question of
"What sort of society will allow people to
see the value of living fully ?"
4.Target for 2050
7.1 persons / 100,000
5.Ideal for the Future
Approaching zero
6. Rationale for Ideal and Target Values
Realistically, zero is probably not
possible. Yet, as suicide is the acts that result
from losing mental balance and losing sight of
the value of living, we must address the root
causes thereby reduce such tragedies as much as
possible.
We made 7.1 our target value for 2050, a realistically
feasible level; it is the same as that of Italy
(per 100,000 population in 1999), the country
with the lowest rate in an international comparison
of suicide death statistics.
7. Source
Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare "Special Statistical Report on Population Dynamics"(Japanese only)
8. Notes
Comparing age-adjusted death rates of
men and women, although in 1950 men had 1.3 times
more "deaths from all causes" and 1.7
times more suicides than women, the difference
between men and women has grown gradually and
in 2003 men had twice as many "deaths from
all causes" as women and three times as many
suicides.