Researchers at the University of Tokyo found that across the world, up to 18 per cent of suicides take place at the start of the week, before tailing off towards the weekend.
The study, which is the biggest of its kind, looked at more than 1.7 million suicides in 26 countries in an attempt to find patterns of behaviour.
Suicide risk was found to increase on New Year's Day in all countries - especially in men - and in some countries, such as Chile, it nearly doubled.
Experts said they were unsure what was behind the trends but observed that pressure from work at the beginning of the week could be a factor, as well as high rates of alcohol consumption around the New Year.
The team also pointed to the "broken promise effect" which theorises that people often postpone suicide until after a public holiday in the hope the festivities will lift their mood, before taking their own life when it does not meet their expectations.
Writing in the BMJ, the study's authors said: "Mondays and New Year's Day were both associated with increased suicide risk in most countries.
"We also hypothesise that the higher economic activity by men in general globally might be associated with the higher vulnerability on Mondays, New Year's Day, and days after major holidays, which are the beginning of the new economic activity cycle.
"The findings provide novel scientific evidence at a global scale, which can help to establish more targeted suicide prevention and response programmes related to holidays and the day of the week."
The research found that suicide risk generally fell at the weekends in Europe, North America and Asia. However, there were notable exceptions, such as in Finland, where people were more likely to take their own life.
The academics said the anomaly could be linked to drinking culture, which is concentrated on the weekends.
There were also other variations by country. In North America and Europe the risk of suicide fell on Christmas Day but, in contrast, there were small increases in Central and South America.
Across all countries, more men committed suicide than women, and those under 65 took their own lives more often than older people.
There were 6,069 suicides registered in England and Wales in 2023 - 11.4 deaths per 100,000 people - a significant increase from 2022 when there were 5,642 deaths - 10.7 deaths per 100,000. Last year's rate was the highest since 1999.
Previous studies have shown that suicidal thoughts peak between 4am and 5am and tend to be worse in December, when the days are shortest and when people may feel lonely or overwhelmed by the festive season.
Winter is known to be a difficult time for people struggling with depression, with experts finding that a mixture of environmental and social factors play a role in worsening mood.
A lack of light in the weeks around the winter solstice is also likely to be a factor, according to researchers, with feelings of loneliness around Christmas well-documented.