TOKYO - The number of Japanese who killed themselves because of work jumped by 52 per cent last year, while work-induced mental illness also hit a record high, a health official said Thursday.
Compensation paid to the families of workers who committed suicide due to work-related stress was paid out in a record 65 cases in 2006, compared with 42 the previous year, said Health Ministry official Junichiro Kurashige.
The number of workers who received compensation for work-induced mental illness hit 205, up 61 per cent from a year earlier, Kurashige said, citing a recent government report.
Efforts by the government to encourage workers to apply for compensation were partly behind the rise, said Kurashige.
Japan's suicide rate is among the highest in the industrialized world. More than 32,000 Japanese took their own lives in 2004, the bulk of them older Japanese suffering financial woes as the country struggled through a decade of economic stagnation.
The Japanese government has earmarked a substantial budget for programs to help those with depression and other mental illnesses.
