About 740.000 deaths from suicides They are reported annually around the world and this is equivalent to a death every 43 seconds. This is found in an analysis of the Institute of Measurement and Evaluation of the Health of the Medical School of the University of Washington in Seattle, published in the journal «The Lancet Public Health».
The researchers analyzed data for the period 1990-2021. As they have found, in the last three decades the global indicator of mortality by suicide decreased by almost 40%from about 15 deaths per 100,000 in nine deaths per 100,000which indicates that interventions and prevention work. In women, the percentage decreased by more than 50%, while in men it was reduced by almost 34%. Overall, the rate of suicide mortality was 12.8 per 100,000 population for men and 5.4 per 100,000 population for women.
By region, East Asia recorded the largest decrease by 66%, with China reporting the largest decline in the area. Western Europe (by 40.8%) was reduced by Central Europe (39.8%). On the contrary, four areas reported increases in suicides for both sexes during the same period. Central Latin America showed the largest increase with 39%, with Mexico ranking at the top of the list with a 123% increase in women only.
However, a large differentiation of rates at local level was identified with the rate of mortality for both sexes being higher in Eastern Europe (19.2 deaths per 100,000 population). Eastern Europe recorded the highest mortality rate in men in 2021 (34.2 deaths per 100,000 population), despite a decrease of 21.9% compared to 1990.
The study also finds that although men were more than twice as likely to die of suicide than women, women were 49% more likely to attempt it. According to researchers, every minute, four men and six women need hospitalization due to attempted suicide.
Worldwide, men were more likely to die of suicide using firearms than women: 10% of men’s suicides were carried out with weapons, while 3% of women’s suicides were with weapons.
The US had the most suicides associated with weapons in the world: nearly 22,000 or 55% of suicides Men were carried out with weapons, while over 3,000 or almost 31% of women’s suicides were with weapons.
In relation to ages, it was found that in 1990, the average age of death for men was 43 years and for women for almost 42 years. By 2021, the average age of death had increased to 47 for men and almost 47 for women. The highest middle age was about 58 years for men and 60 years for women, both in East Asia. On the contrary, the younger average age of suicide was recorded in Oceania, where it was 36 years for men and 34 years for women.