Farmer suicides drop 1.2% in 2024; farm labourers also dip, shows report

Suicides among farmers and farm labourers declined marginally in 2024, according to the latest Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India report

Farmer suicides dipped 1.2 per cent in 2024 compared to 2023, while suicides by farm labourers dropped 3 per cent during the same period, according to the latest Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India (ADSI) 2024 report released on Wednesday.

 

In total, around 10,546 people related to farming in some way committed suicide in 2024, compared to 10,786 in 2023.

 

In 2024, around 4,633 farmers died by suicide, while the number for farm labourers stood at 5,913. The official explanation stated that suicides happen due to various reasons, including family trouble and indebtedness.

 

The Situational Assessment Survey (SAS) of the National Statistical Office (NSO) for 2018-19 showed that incomes from crop production dropped to 37.7 per cent from 47.9 per cent in 2012-13, while income from wages rose from 32.2 per cent to 40.3 per cent, becoming one of the main sources of income for an agricultural household.

   

Furthermore, the All India Rural Financial Inclusion Survey (NAFIS) 2021-22 by NABARD also reinforced the declining share of cultivation in the average monthly income of rural households. It dropped from 35 per cent to 20 per cent between the two periods, while the share of wages and salary increased.

 

The NAFIS survey collected information on economic and financial indicators of rural India for 2021-22 from more than one lakh households. The first NAFIS survey was conducted in 2016-17.

 

Around 56.7 per cent of the households surveyed for the report were agricultural households, while the rest were non-agricultural households.

 

The two data sets, though covering different periods, point to a trend showing that while income from wages has increasingly become the main source of income for an average farming household in the country, distress tends to rise sharply if such income does not increase satisfactorily, some experts said.  Suicides By Persons Involved in Farming Sector (farmers and farm labourers) 

Category	2024	2023	% Change
Farmers	4633	4690	-1.2
Agriculture Labourers	5913	6096	-3.0
Total	10546	10786	-2.2

  SOURCE: Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India 2024 Report