Suicide cases among foreign workers in Saudi Arabia are on the increase, with Indians accounting for over 40 per cent of the incidents, the health ministry said.

As many as 203 Indian workers were among the 266 who took their lives in 2006, the health ministry report said, adding nearly 295 foreigners were murdered during the same period.

Expatriates accounted for 77 per cent of suicides in the Gulf country in 2006 with Indians (203) taking 43 per cent, followed by Bangladeshis (155), Pakistanis (141), Yemenis (102) and Egyptians (97), the Arab News reported.

"Of the total deaths in 2006, 957 or 50.1 per cent were not natural and suicides represented 27 per cent of such deaths," the report said, adding that the reasons for 93 deaths were not known.

According to Dr Abdul Razak Al-Hamad, consultant in mental medicine at King Saud University, the exact figures for suicides in Saudi Arabia are not available.

The largest number of suicides are in the age group of 30-39 and they represent about 44.3 per cent of the total, followed by those aged 20-29, which accounts for 33.6 per cent, the report said.

As many as 63 per cent foreign workers ended their lives by hanging while 12 per cent jumped from a high place.