TAIPEI -- A total of 3,675 Taiwan residents committed suicide last year, an increase of some 4 percent from the year before, according to the island's health and welfare department Friday.

Male residents accounted for 66 percent of the figure. Suicide was among the top 10 causes of death for men in the island.

The department attributed the rise partly to the fluctuation in the island's political situation and the slowdown in its economic growth.

Men and women combined, suicide ranked 11th cause of death in Taiwan in the past year. Cancer was the top cause of death in the island for the 34th consecutive year, followed by heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, pneumonia and diabetes.