More Young people commit Suicide than people from any other age group - Factly
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
January 21, 2016
Data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) and the Census confirm that more young people commit suicide than people from any other age group, particularly vulnerable are those in the 15 to 30 age group. 41% of all the suicides in 2014 were by people in this age group. The top most cause of death for people in this age group also happens to be suicide.
The tragic suicide by a student of the University of Hyderabad (UoH) has once again put the spotlight on suicides of young people.  The data released by both the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) and the Census office  confirm the trend that young people between the age group of 14 and 30 commit suicide more than the people from any other age group.
41% of all the suicides in 2014 are by Young People between 14 and 30 years
As per the NCRB report for 2014, 41% of those who committed suicide were from the 14 to 30 year age group. In fact, 74% of all those are between the 14 and 45 age group. 18% of those who committed suicide were from the 45 to 60 year age group and only 7.4% from the above 60 year age group.
A greater percentage of Young Women commit suicide than Young Men
The NCRB statistics on suicide for the year 2014 indicate that a greater percentage of young women commit suicide than young men. Close to 52% of women who committed suicide in 2014 were in the 14 to 30 year age group while the corresponding percentage for men was only 36%. It is also evident that a greater percentage of older men commit suicide than older women. 21% of the men who committed suicide were from the 45 to 60 year age group.
Suicide is the top most cause of death in young people according to the Census
The Census data on cause of death also corroborates the fact that more young people commit suicide than people from any other group. Suicide is the topmost cause of death in young people in the age group of 15 and 30 according to the cause of death statistics from 2010-2013. 18% of the deaths in this age group were because of suicide while 13.7% were because of motor vehicle accidents. The other causes in the top five include other injuries, cardiovascular diseases & digestive diseases.
Young Women more prone to Suicides than Young Men
The census data on cause of deaths confirms the trend observed in the NCRB statistics. The cause of death for 22% young women between 15 and 30 years was suicide while the corresponding percentage for men was 15%. Motor vehicle accidents were not in the top five causes of death for women in this age group. 9% of the women in this age group died because of maternal conditions.
(This is Part 2 of a two part series. Part 1 looked at causes of death in Men & Women)