ISTANBUL - The suicidal trend among women in Japan during the Covid-19 pandemic has escalated, with over 7,000 women taking their lives last year. According to Health Ministry data released on Tuesday, 7,068 women committed suicide in 2021, marking the second consecutive year that the number of women suicide cases increased. However, the overall number of suicides in the country saw a slight decrease by 74. "The effect of the coronavirus pandemic appears to manifest in various ways," an unnamed Health Ministry official told Kyodo News. The coronavirus outbreak hit the world in December 2019, which negatively affected daily life and severely battered livelihood as governments imposed lockdowns to halt the spread of the deadly infection. Overall, 21,007 people ended their lives in Japan, 838 higher than the number of suicides recorded in 2019. The country of over 126 million people is also grappling with an aging population, accounting for 28.5 percent of its total population.