Trends and socio-economic determinants of suicide in India: 2001-2013

To investigate trends and socio-economic determinants of suicide in India over the period of 2001-2013.

Suicide rates between 2001 and 2013 were calculated using suicide statistics provided by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) and census data provided by Census of India, stratified by sex, age group, and geographical region, to investigate trends in suicide over the study period. Multilevel negative binomial regression models were specified to investigate associations between state-level indicators of economic development, education, employment and religious factors and sex-specific suicide rates.

Male suicide rates remained relatively steady (~ 14 per 100,000) while female suicide rates decreased over the study period (9 to 7 per 100,000). The age group of 45-59 years had the highest suicide rate among males while the age group of 15-29 years had the highest suicide rate among females. On average, higher male and female suicide rates were observed in states with: higher levels of development, higher levels of agricultural employment, higher levels of literacy, and higher proportions of people identifying with Hinduism. Higher male suicide rates were also observed in states with higher levels of unemployment.

The process of modernization might be contributing towards higher suicide risk in more developed parts of India. Also, increase in farmer suicides since economic liberalization might be contributing towards higher suicide rates among more agricultural regions. Furthermore, ancient sanctions towards religious suicide are possibly still influencing modern Hindu suicides.