May 28 (Bloomberg) -- Japan will review measures to cut the country's suicide rate after a media report said the number of people taking their own lives exceeded 30,000 for the 10th straight year, Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said.

The government will review guidelines adopted last June aimed at reducing the number of suicides in Japan by 20 percent by 2016, Machimura said. The policies focused on social factors including reducing unemployment, debt and health problems.

``My heart aches over this unfortunate development,'' Machimura said at a regular news conference in Tokyo today, adding he ordered a review of the guidelines last week. Machimura didn't provide a timeline for policy changes.

One person commits suicide about every 15 minutes in Japan, which has the world's ninth-highest rate for people taking their own lives, according to the United Nations. The government asked Web sites to remove references to hydrogen sulphide, a poisonous gas made from household products, after it was used in a spate of suicides in recent months.

``It's outrageous that something that seems to promote suicide is widely available on the Internet,'' Machimura said. ``There is freedom of expression but it must be accompanied by responsibility. These things shouldn't go unregulated.''

The number of suicides ``is certain'' to have topped 30,000 for the 10th straight year in 2007, Kyodo News reported yesterday, citing its own tally compiled from records provided by Japan's 47 prefectural police departments.

Japan's National Police Agency will probably announce official annual suicide figures next month, as well as a report into the number of victims committing or attempting suicide using hydrogen sulphide gas.

Economy, Healthcare

Japan, with a population of 127.7 million, recorded 32,155 suicides in 2006, the most recent official data available. Police statistics show 34.6 percent of suicide victims that year were in their 60s, with healthcare and the economy the two biggest concerns.

Lithuania has the highest suicide rate with 40.2 deaths per 100,000 people, compared with 24 in Japan, according to the UN, which used 2004 data for its calculations. Japan was the second- highest among Group of Eight countries behind Russia, with a rate of 34.3 suicides per 100,000.

To contact the reporters on this story: Takashi Hirokawa in Tokyo at thirokawa@bloomberg.net; Stuart Biggs in Tokyo at sbiggs3@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: May 28, 2008 00:40 EDT