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The following are lists of countries by estimated suicide rates as published by the
World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...
(WHO) and other sources. In many countries, suicide rates are underreported due to
social stigma Stigma, originally referring to the visible marking of people considered inferior, has evolved to mean a negative perception or sense of disapproval that a society places on a group or individual based on certain characteristics such as their ...
,
cultural Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...
or
legal Law is a set of rules that are created and are law enforcement, enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a Socia ...
concerns. Thus, these figures cannot be used to compare real suicide rates, which are unknown in most countries. The global total of suicide deaths decreased from an estimated 762,000 in 2000 to 717,000 in 2021, which is 9.1 deaths per 100,000 population. In high-income countries, male and female rates of suicidal behaviors differ compared to the rest of the world: while women are reportedly more prone to suicidal thoughts, rates of suicide are higher among men, which has been described as a "silent epidemic". In 2021, the global rate of suicide deaths for men was 12.3 per 100,000, more than double the rate for women, which stood at 5.9 per 100,000 population. However, the sex disparity was uneven across regions, with a male-to-female ratio ranging from as low as 1.4 in the Southeast Asia Region to nearly 4.0 in the Region of the Americas. As such, suicide rates may be higher than measured, with men more at risk of dying by suicide than women across nearly all cultures and backgrounds.
Suicide prevention Suicide prevention is a collection of efforts to reduce the risk of suicide. Suicide is often preventable, and the efforts to prevent it may occur at the individual, relationship, community, and society level. Suicide is a serious public healt ...
and intervention is an important topic for all peoples, according to the WHO.


Countries and territories by suicide rate

Background Suicide rates vary by country but occurs in all regions of the world. In a 2024 WHO report, 73% of reported suicides were in low and middle-income countries. Mental illness and suicide are linked, though many suicides are impulsive and occur due to crisis. Groups subject to
discrimination Discrimination is the process of making unfair or prejudicial distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong, such as race, gender, age, class, religion, or sex ...
, including refugees, indigenous populations, and
LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...
people, experience high suicide rates. Societal taboos and lack of quality suicide data are impeding factors in suicide prevention.
Suicide prevention Suicide prevention is a collection of efforts to reduce the risk of suicide. Suicide is often preventable, and the efforts to prevent it may occur at the individual, relationship, community, and society level. Suicide is a serious public healt ...
includes such measures as restricting access to methods, responsible media reporting, and treatment and assessment of suicidal people.


Analysis

Male and female suicide rates are out of the total male population and total female population, respectively, i.e. total number of male suicides divided by the total male population. Age-standardized rates account for the influence that different population age distributions might have on the analysis of crude death rates, statistically addressing the prevailing trends by age-groups and populations' structures, to enhance long term cross-national comparability. Based on age-groups' deviation from standardized population structures, rates are rounded up or down (age-adjustment). Basically, the presence of younger individuals in any given age structure carries more weight. If the rate is rounded up, that means the median age is lower than average for that region or country, and vice versa when rounded down. Most countries listed above report a higher male suicide rate. Worldwide, there are about 3 male suicides out of 4, or a factor of 3:1. For example, the ratio in the United States was 3.36 in 2015, and 3.53 in 2016. Though age-standardization is common statistical process to categorize mortality data for comparing purposes, this approach by WHO is based on estimates which take into account issues such as under-reporting, resulting in rates differing from the official national statistics prepared and endorsed by individual countries. Revisions are also performed periodically. Age-adjusted rates are mortality rates that would have existed if all populations under study had the same age distribution as a "standard" population. Plain, crude estimated rates are available a
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Countries with a population less than 100 000 are excluded. Countries with large internal discrepancies are complicated to assess.
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
, a country with a comparatively low suicide rate overall at 10.3 incidents per 100,000 people in 2016, exhibits one such discrepancy. When comparing the suicide rate of
Indigenous peoples in Canada Indigenous peoples in Canada (also known as Aboriginals) are the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples within the boundaries of Canada. They comprise the First Nations in Canada, First Nations, Inuit, and Métis#Métis people in ...
, the rate of suicide increases to 24.3 incidents per 100,000 people in 2016, a rate among the ten highest in the world. There are numerous differences in living standards and income that contribute to this phenomenon, classed as an epidemic in Canada.


List by other sources and years (1985–2019)

In the list below various sources from various years are included, mixing plain crude rates with age-adjusted rates and estimated rates, so cross-national comparability is somewhat skewed. * indicates "Suicide in COUNTRY or TERRITORY" or "Mental Health in COUNTRY or TERRITORY" links.


See also

* Epidemiology of suicide * Gender differences in suicide * Suicide in the military * List of countries by intentional death rate *
List of countries by intentional homicide rate The list of countries by homicide rate is derived from United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) data, and is expressed in number of deaths per 100,000 population per year. For example, a homicide rate of 30 out of 100,000 is presented in t ...
*
List of countries by life expectancy This list of countries and territories by life expectancy provides a comprehensive list of countries alongside their respective life expectancy figures. The data is differentiated by sex, presenting life expectancies for males, females, and a ...
* List of suicide crisis lines


Explanatory notes

* The updated figure of suicide rates in Belgium for 2011 is 2,084 with a total population of 10,933,607, equivalent to 18.96 per 100,000 inhabitants (source: Het Nieuwsblad, 10 April 2014). * Taiwan is not a member of the WHO. The Taiwanese government adopted the WHO standard in 2007. According to the Taiwanese government's self-released data, the figure is standardized based upon the population within Taiwan.


References


External links


Suicide data and rates
published by the
World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...
(WHO). {{DEFAULTSORT:Suicide Rate, List Of Countries By Lists of countries Lists of countries by per capita values * * Suicide-related lists