A record 130 people were deemed eligible in fiscal 2004 for workers' compensation due to suicide or mental illness induced by stress and excessive work, according to a labor ministry report.

The figure was part of a record 524 people who applied for workers' compensation after suffering from depression and other mental disorders during the year through March 31, according to the report compiled by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry and released Friday.

The number of people who committed or attempted suicide due to excessive work marked an all-time high of 45, the report says.

The ministry attributed the rise in labor benefit applications to increased public awareness about work-related mental illness and a change in the social atmosphere for workers claiming compensation for such illness.

Among the 130 people who were eligible for benefits, the largest group, 43, came from professional jobs such as system engineers, nurses and doctors.

Women accounted for a record 35 percent, or 46, of the total, with women in their 20s standing at 17 and those in their 30s at 16. The largest group, 16 women, were nurses or other workers in the medical and welfare fields.

The number of people who became eligible for worker compensation due to brain and heart illness induced by excessive work came to 294 in the reporting year, down 20 from the previous year.

That figure includes 150 who died from overwork, down by eight from the year before.