A memorial service for Japanese supermodel Sayoko Yamaguchi in 2007. Yamaguchi allegedly committed suicide. Japan’s suicide rates have declined but continue to cost the country in lives and financially. File Photo courtesy of Everett Kennedy Brown/EPA

March 24 (UPI) -- Japan's high suicide rate is costing the country.

Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun reported Friday that suicides have resulted in annual economic losses of $4.1 billion for the world's third-largest economy.


Suicide is a serious issue in Japan.

According to a survey taken in October 2016, nearly a quarter of respondents said they had contemplated suicide.

The survey interviewed 3,000 people of working age and was conducted by Japan's ministry of health, labor and welfare.

Women were more contemplative of suicide at 25.6 percent, compared to male respondents at 21.4 percent.

Both men and women in their 50s registered the highest rate of suicidal thoughts, or 30.1 percent.

The survey also indicated 28.7 percent of Japanese respondents in their 30s thought about suicide, followed by 24.3 percent of those in their 40s and 23 percent of respondents in their 20s.

About 1 out of 5 respondents in their 60s and 70s had thought about ending their lives, according to the survey.

Using 2015 data on suicide rates, the health ministry also found those who took their lives also gave up $4.1 billion of income.

Suicide is on the decline in Japan after a basic law on suicide measures was passed in 2005. The bill has reduced suicide-related financial losses by $894 million, according to the Asahi.

Suicide in Japan decreased by 5.4 percent between 2015 and 2016.