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The number of suicides in the January to November period came to 19,101, up 426 from the same period a year before, according to the data released Thursday.

In November, 1,169 men and 629 women killed themselves.

By prefecture, the number of suicides recorded was highest in Tokyo, at 198, followed by Kanagawa, at 116, and Saitama, at 107.

Speaking at a news conference Thursday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato attributed the continued increase in suicides within the country to poverty, domestic violence and problems related to child-rearing that have become more serious amid the COVID-19 crisis.

“We’ll promote suicide prevention measures,” the top government spokesman said.