One in 100 deaths is by suicide
Suicide remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide, according to the World Health Organisation's (WHO) latest estimates. Every year, more people die as a result of suicide than HIV, malaria or breast cancer - or war and homicide. In 2019, more than 700,000 people died by suicide: one in every 100 deaths.
Among young people aged 15-29, suicide was the fourth leading cause of death after road injury, tuberculosis and interpersonal violence. Rates vary, between countries, regions, and between males and females.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. More than twice as many males die due to suicide as females (12.6 per 100 000 males compared with 5.4 per 100,000 females). Suicide rates among men are generally higher in high-income countries (16.5 per 100 000). For females, the highest suicide rates are found in lower-middle-income countries (7.1 per 100,000).
Suicide rates in the WHO African (11.2 per 100,000), European (10.5 per 100,000) and South-East Asia (10.2 per 100,000) regions were higher than the global average (9.0 per 100,000) in 2019.
Although some countries have placed suicide prevention high on their agendas, too many countries remain uncommitted. Currently, only 38 countries are known to have a national suicide prevention strategy. A significant acceleration in the reduction of suicides is needed to meet the SDG target of a one-third reduction in the global suicide rate by 2030.
Source: World Health Organisation (WHO)
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