Suicide trends in India: 31% cases among daily wage workers, this state reports highest numbers, shows NCRB 2024 data
Daily wage earners now represent the largest group of suicide victims in India, accounting for 31% of all deaths in 2024, a decade-high. This alarming trend sees over 52,000 such workers dying by suicide. While family issues and illness remain pr...
Latest data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) has highlighted a worrying trend in suicide cases among daily wage earners in 2024. According to the report, daily wage workers accounted for 31% of all suicide deaths during the year, the highest share recorded in the last decade (2015–2024), as reported by Times of India.
The data shows that 52,910 daily wage earners died by suicide in 2024, marking a sharp rise compared to the previous peak share of 26.4% recorded in 2022. Overall, India recorded around 1.7 lakh suicide deaths in 2024, up from 1.34 lakh in 2015, indicating a steady increase over the years. Daily wage labourers, who form a large part of India’s workforce, continue to be among the most affected groups.
Daily wage earners, housewives among most affected groups
A long-term review of NCRB data since 2015 shows that daily wage earners, housewives and self-employed individuals have consistently remained the top three occupational categories among suicide victims. However, the share of suicides among housewives and self-employed people has gradually declined over the past decade.
NCRB data 2024 suicides in India
The farming sector has also seen a drop in its share of suicide cases, falling from 8.7% in 2016 to 6.2% in 2024. The farming category was first introduced in the NCRB’s “Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India” report in 2016.
In 2024, Tamil Nadu recorded the highest number of suicides among daily wage earners at 10,556 cases, accounting for nearly one-fifth of the national total. It was followed by Maharashtra (6,811), Telangana (5,745), Madhya Pradesh (5,299) and Chhattisgarh (3,413). Among Union Territories, Delhi reported the highest number at 343 cases.
The report also found that 62.9% of suicide victims—around 1.1 lakh people—belonged to families with an annual income below ₹1 lakh.
Leading causes and methods used
“Family problems” remained the most commonly reported reason, accounting for 35% of all cases, followed by illness at 17.9%. In terms of methods, hanging remained the most frequently used (62.3%), followed by poisoning (24.5%), drowning (4.4%) and incidents involving trains or moving vehicles (2.5%).
