Introduction
This report on suicide in our world today is offered for three reasons. First, the statistics begin to provide a perspective on suicide in different demographics, regions, and over time. Second, the statistics contribute to forming hypotheses about suicide that must be further researched. Thus, third, the actual reporting of statistics raises questions about the proper use of statistics. I have, therefore, both presented some recent statistics in this report and offered some caution about using them. As my statistics professor said many years ago, ‘Remember, more people die in hospitals than anywhere else. So, should we avoid hospitals?’ Statistics are often used for social planning—even social revolution. The right use of statistics, even if accurately reported, is crucial. What does a high number of suicides among teenage males mean for the teacher, the youth pastor, the use of social media, the cultural trends in a certain part of the world, and so forth? Statistical reports are only one sort of reporting among a number of others.
Global Statistics
A report on suicide today can only provide a snapshot of a dynamic situation difficult situation to analyse. Under review in this chapter is the current situation in different age groups, cultures, and nations with a caution about the use of statistics. We might helpfully look at statistics over several years for different groups to identify any trends in a particular region. We must be particularly careful if we try to compare different groups to one another due to differences in reporting, causes, and other factors.
Statistics can
help us to dissolve false assumptions that will lead us to useless or
inappropriate actions. For example, one
may well have hypothesized that suicides rose during the lockdowns and lack of
interpersonal interactions in 2020, when the world experienced a Covid-19
pandemic. Yet a recent study in the
United Kingdom concluded
Our findings add to the international evidence that suicide rates
have not risen as a result of the pandemic or lockdown restrictions, despite
higher levels of distress in published studies.[1]
One might easily
jump to wrong interpretations about suicide in certain populations. Is the high number of suicides in Lesotho the
result of better reporting than in other African countries, the result of
poverty, the result of a high percentage of the population with AIDS, or some
other reason or combination of reasons?
Life expectancy in Lesotho is low: in 2020, 47.7 years for men and 54.2
for women (a ranking of 183 in the world).
The leading cause of death was HIV/AIDS at 14.31% of total deaths and
ranking 2nd in the world.[2] One needs to dig deeper into the raw
statistics and not jump to conclusions.
Is Lesotho’s high suicide rate a matter of poverty or sickness (AIDS), a
combination of these (access to treatment), or something else? The statistics (below) for ethnic differences
in neighbouring South Africa suggest that suicide is more prevalent among the
more educated and wealthier white population.
The statistic that people with gender dysphoria commit suicide at a
higher rate may be interpreted different ways: is this more social or
psychological, and if social is it about a society not being inclusive
(bullying) or a person who rejects society’s norms (expressive individualism)?
The World Health
Organization notes that suicide in the world has decreased steadily from 13 per
100,000 to 9.2 per 100,000.[3] One must be careful when comparing countries
on such statistics when one wants to dig into the details because there may be
differences in reporting of suicides.
The statistics gathered by one country may be more accurate than
another’s records. Some countries count
probable suicides and some count only those deaths that are unquestionably
suicides. Some types of deaths are
difficult to determine: is a drug overdose intentional or not, and if a heart
attack or asphyxiation listed as the cause of death when drugs contributed to
either while the actual cause of death is that the person intended to commit
suicide?
My caution about
labelling—and then interpreting—statistics might be illustrated in the case of
George Floyd’s death that led to a social uproar in 2020. People regularly call his death murder, even
today, whereas it is surely more appropriate to call his death a homicide, with
contributing factors. The pathology
report for Floyd revealed that he had taken a dangerous amount of drugs that
contributed to his death. To say that he
intended to kill himself is as wrong as to say that the police intended to kill
him, and yet it is surely significant to say that both Floyd and the police
contributed to his death—if not also the delay by emergency services to come to
the scene. We have a word for the police
role in the death—homicide—that can be distinguished from intentional
killing—murder. We do not have the same
for Floyd, who did not commit suicide but intentionally consumed poisonous
substances. ‘Suicide’, like ‘murder’,
involves intentionality. ‘Homicide’
suggests contributing to a person’s death without intentionality. This particular case was further
misinterpreted in regard to wrongful perceptions that the death represented
white racism (the officer holding him down was Asian) and that police commit
numerous deaths against blacks (they do not—the numbers are not high and not
different in comparison with whites).
Much can be learned from analysing this case in American culture, where
a wrongful narrative drives the interpretation of incidents, and about the
proper use of statistics for social analysis, as well as about the difficulty
in labelling the cause of death.
On the other
hand, statistics may help to raise important questions for discussion and
further study of suicide. For example,
‘Which age groups are more at risk for suicide than others in a certain
region?’ and ‘What trends do we see over
a certain time period, and can they be explained?’ A very important question is, ‘Does
government approval of and provision for assisted suicide contribute to a rise
in suicide?’ (The answer appears to be a
clear ‘Yes’.)
We might get a
general perspective on suicide in the world by scrolling through the WHO’s
statistics for suicide in a particular year—2019. We see from these statistics that several
islands have the honor of the lowest number of suicides in 2019: Antigua and
Barbuda, Barbados, Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Sao Tome and
Principe. Countries with high numbers of
suicide of 20 or more suicides per 100,000 were: Latvia, Montenegro, Belarus,
Uruguay, Ukraine, South Africa, Russian Federation, Lithuania, Micronesia,
Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Eswatini, Guyana, and Lesotho. All of these countries were in the 20s except
the last two. Guyana reported 40.3 and
Lesotho 72.4 suicides per 100,000.
Lesotho’s number rose to 87.5/100,000 in 2024. One report trying to make sense of this
number flagged two major issues to consider: the lack of employment
opportunities (2 persons unemployed out of every 5) and the lack of sufficient
mental health care (one psychiatric facility serving the entire population of 2
million).[4] Further research is needed as one might also
speculate that illnesses (e.g., AIDS), access to health care, culture,
religion, sex and age related issues, and so forth could contribute to the
numbers.
Major Countries
Some reported statistics
from several large and powerful countries are:
China,
8.1
India,
12.7
United
States of America, 16.1
Russian
Federation, 25.1
Islamic Countries
Statistics of reported
suicides per 100,000 in 2019 in Islamic countries per 100,000 were generally
lower than reports from other countries but also varied from 1.6 to 17.6:
|
Jordan, 1.6 Syrian Arab Republic, 1.9 Turkey, 2.4 Indonesia, 2.4 Algeria, 2.5 Brunei Darussalam, 2.7 Lebanon, 2.8 Kuwait, 2.9 Egypt, 3 Tunisia, 3.3 Iraq, 3.6 Bangladesh, 3.7 Sudan, 3.8
|
Azerbaijan, 4.1 Mali, 4.1 Afghanistan, 4.1 Tajikistan, 4.3 Libya, 4.5 Gambia, 4.8 Oman, 4.8 Iran, 5.2 Niger, 5.3 Comoros, 5.4 Turkmenistan, 5.7 Malaysia, 5.7 Yemen, 5.8 Qatar, 5.8 |
Saudi Arabia, 6 Senegal, 6 United Arab Emirates, 6.4 Morocco, 7.2 Kyrgyzstan, 7.4 Somalia, 7.9 Uzbekistan, 8 Bahrain, 8.9 Pakistan, 8.9 Djibouti, 9.6 Eritrea, 10.9 Kazakhstan, 17.6
|
Africa
Countries in
Southern Africa are all above the world average for 2019. Lesotho holds the world record for the number
of suicides. Suicide ranks as the
seventh cause of death in Lesotho after HIV/AIDS, strokes, influenza and
pneumonia, coronary heart attacks, and diarrheal diseases.[5]
Namibia, 9.7
Botswana, 16.1
Zimbabwe, 14.1
Mozambique, 13.6
Eswatini, 29.4
Lesotho, 72.4
South Africa, 23.5
These countries might be compared to other African countries in West and East Africa. The following are below the world average for 2019:
Burundi,
6.2
Congo,
6.5
Ghana,
6.5
Kenya,
6.1
Liberia,
4.5
Nigeria,
3.5
Rwanda,
5.6
Sierra Leone, 6.7
Tanzania, 4.3
Suicide rates
have steadily increased in South Africa since 2000. In that year, there were 13.1 per
100,000. In 2010, the number was 18.8
(higher than the year before and after).
In 2020, it was 22.3.[6] The increase in suicide accompanied the
increase in education. By contrast with
the USA, suicide statistics were highest for males between 15 and 29, whereas
they were similar to the USA in the late 1990s, with males over 75 as the
highest group. Also different from the
USA, since 2006, the age group for women committing suicide was those over the
age of 75. The study also identified the
cause of death for suicides. For men,
the order of preference was hanging, poison (drug, pesticide, or other
substances), and firearms. For women, the
order was poisoning and then hanging.
A breakdown by
ethnicity needs to be evaluated carefully.
‘Black Africans’ is a large category that lumps together urban and
rural, different tribes, and black immigrants representing social groups from
other parts of Africa. Emigration from
South Africa is high, and one also wonders how suicides for emigrants (I know
of no such study) might relate to suicide rates for those who remained in South
Africa (if such a comparison would even be possible in light of additional
factors). One report on ethnic
statistics for South Africa in the year 2012 shows that whites committed
suicide more frequently than other groups, and white men more than white women. The numbers are as follows per 100,000 in the
whole population:[7]
|
Race |
Male |
Female |
Both |
|
African |
20 |
3 |
11 |
|
Coloured |
15 |
4 |
9 |
|
White |
30 |
6 |
18 |
|
Indian |
18 |
4 |
11 |
Since whites are the third largest of these four groups, the higher number of suicides per 100,000 actually represents a larger percentage within each group. Black Africans are almost ten times larger a group than whites and just slightly less than Coloureds. According to Statistica, in 2022 (a different year from the above table) the population groups in South Africa broke down numerically as follows:[8]
49,071,000
Black Africans
5,340,000
Coloureds
4,639,000 Whites
1,555,000 Indians/Asians
A study of the
causes of death in South Africa between 1997 and 2016 revealed that 78.1% of
suicides were male.[9] Suicidal deaths dramatically increased during
the period. They occurred most often
among persons between 15 and 29. Over
this twenty-year period, 52% of the suicides were by black men in South Africa,
while only 0.48% were by Asian or Indian women.
Note that neither this statistic nor that above gives the percentage of
suicides within ethnic populations.
England and Wales
According to the
Office for National Statistics in England and Wales:[10]
There were 6,069 suicides registered in England and Wales (11.4
deaths per 100,000 people) in 2023; this is an increase compared to 2022 (10.7
deaths per 100,000, or 5,642 deaths) and the highest rate seen since 1999.
The suicide rate for males in England and Wales increased to 17.4
deaths per 100,000 in 2023, from 16.4 deaths per 100,000 in 2022; this is the
highest rate for males since 1999.
The suicide rate for females in England and Wales increased to 5.7
deaths per 100,000 in 2023, from 5.4 deaths per 100,000 in 2022; this is the
highest rate for females since 1994.
The age-specific suicide rate was highest for males aged 45 to 49
years (25.5 deaths per 100,000), and for females aged 50 to 54 years (9.2
deaths per 100,000).
In 2023, suicide rates in Wales (14.0 deaths per 100,000) were
higher than in England (11.2 deaths per 100,000), although rates increased from
2022 in both England (10.5 deaths per 100,000) and Wales (12.5 deaths per
100,000).
London had the lowest rate of any region in England (7.3 deaths per
100,000); the highest rate was in the North West (14.7 deaths per 100,000).
Further information from this office is as follows. From 1981-1995, the highest age groups for women committing suicide were 45-64, 65-74, and 75 and older, but with a fairly steady decline. In 1995, women in the age group of 25-44 committed suicide about the same rate as these older groups because of this decline. Since 2016, the two highest groups were 45-64 and 25-44, in that order.
For males in England and Wales, between 1981 and 1990, the male group with the highest rate of suicide was notably that of 75 and older. From 1994-2010, males in the 25-44 age group were notably highest. Since then, the next age group of 45-64 has run closely to but exceeded the 25-44 group up through 2023.
Differences in regions are notable. The highest number of suicides in 2023 took place in the North West (14.7 per 100,000) and North East (14.5 per 100,000). Wales was third at 14 per 100,000. The lowest region was London at 7.3 per 100,000. Suicide rates for males and females declined most years between 1981 and 2007. Since then, the numbers have increased, but they have reached the levels of the 1980s.
United States
According to the Centers for Disease Control’s National Center for Health Statistics, the number of suicides up to 2022 in the United States steadily increased since 2000 to 2022, from 10 per 1,000 persons to 14 per 1,000.[11] This means that there was an increase of about 36% over this short period. Suicide was responsible for 49,476 deaths in 2022, which is about one death every 11 minutes.[12] Between 2018 and 11 January, 2025, there were 315,885 suicidal deaths, or 11.9 per 100,000.
According to the
National Institute of Health, in 2023, males committed suicide nearly 4 times
more than females.[13] The year recorded 49,316 suicides and was the
eleventh cause of death. The age with
the highest number of suicides was 45-64 for women (8.6 per 100,000) and 75 and
above for men (40.7 per 100,000). (In the previous year, it was 8.2 for the
same age group of women and 42.2 per 100,00 for men above 75.) The ethnic group with the highest rate of
suicide was American Indian/Alaskan Native males at 35.3 per 100,000 and
females at 12.4 per 100,000. The number
of suicides vary widely regionally, with the most committed in Alaska, Montana,
Idaho, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, Oklahoma, and
Arkansas. Suicide was the second highest
cause of death (after accidental injury) for the age groups of 10-15, 16-24,
and 25-34. Mental health (and therefore social adaptability) was previously
noted as associated with suicide. According
to a survey of persons from 2015-2019 by the National Survey of Drug Use and
Health (NSDUH), ‘suicide risk was three to six times greater for lesbian, gay,
and bisexual adults than for heterosexual adults across every age group and
race/ethnicity category.’[14]
Conclusions
While reporting
some recent statistics for suicide in various countries in this report, I have
tried to flag the importance of being cautious about the reported numbers as
well as about interpretation of the statistics.
Comparisons between countries should also be avoided, since what is
reported may vary, or the reasons for suicide in certain age groups may be
different. Statistics should be used to
form hypotheses that require further investigation. The case that stands out the most to me is
the high number of reported suicides in Lesotho. One can quickly see that the country also has
a high number of HIV/AIDS cases. Yet the
country is also poor, and many are unemployed.
Just what are the real connections between the social realities in
Lesotho and the number of suicides? Does
religion also play a factor?—something not considered in the statistics. The case of a higher rate of suicides among
whites in South Africa questions a thesis that high rates of suicide are due to
poverty, as does the discovery that there are more suicides the more people are
educated. One may easily jump to very
bad social policies from statistics: nobody would suggest it is better to be
poor and uneducated. Thus, while statistics
in this report begin to raise good questions about suicide in certain
demographics, it is not sufficient information for addressing the problems societies
face about suicide.
[1] Louis
Appleby, Nicola Richards, Saied Ibrahim, Pauline Turnbull, Cathryn Rodway, Nav
Kapur, ‘Suicide in England in the
COVID-19 pandemic: Early observational data from real time surveillance,’ Lancet Reg Health Eur. (April 20, 2021);
online: Suicide in England in the COVID-19
pandemic: Early observational data from real time surveillance - PMC (accessed 3 February,
2025).
[2] See ‘World Health Rankings’; online: Life
Expectancy in Lesotho (accessed 28 April, 2025). See https://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/
for other countries.
[3] World Health Organization Data, online 16BBF41 (accessed
25 January, 2025).
[4] Ongezwa Zibi, ‘Lesotho grapples with escalating mental health challenges,’ CGTN—Africa (11 October, 2024); online: Lesotho grapples with escalating mental health challenges - CGTN Africa (accessed 26 April, 2025).
[5] Cf. https://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/lesotho-life-expectancy
(accessed 30 January, 2026).
[6] World Bank: Suicide
mortality rate (per 100,000 population) - South Africa | Data (accessed 4
February, 2026).
[7] Kate Wilkinson, ‘Suicide in South Africa,’ AfricaCheck (16 October, 2017): #5facts:
The sad extent of suicide in South Africa - Africa Check (accessed 4
February, 2026).
[8] South
Africa: population, by ethnic groups 2022| Statista (accessed 5 February,
2026).
[9] Tahira Kootbodien,
Nisha Naiker, Kerry S. Wilson, Raj Ramesar, and Leslie London, ‘Trends in
Suicide Mortality in South Africa, 1997-2016,’ International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17.6
(2020), p. 1850; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17061850
(accessed 4 February, 2026).
[10] Office for National Statistics (ONS), released 29 August 2024, ONS
website, statistical bulletin, Suicides
in England and Wales: 2023 registrations (24 January, 2025). The site further states that ‘Scotland and
Northern Ireland each produce their own suicide statistics through the National
Records of Scotland (NRS) and the Northern
Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA), respectively, and are
comparable with those in this bulletin.’
[11] Suicide Data Statistics, CDC,
online: Suicide Data and
Statistics | Suicide Prevention | CDC (accessed 12/22/2024).
[12] As reported by the Centers for Disease Control, online: Facts About Suicide |
Suicide Prevention | CDC (accessed 24 January, 2025). This is based on information available on
this page: Multiple Cause of Death
Data on CDC WONDER.
[13] National Institute of Mental Health: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/suicide#part_2557
(accessed 4 February, 2026).
[14] ‘Researchers Find
Disparities in Suicide Risk Among Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Adults,’ National Institute of Mental Health (9
November, 2021); online: Researchers Find Disparities in
Suicide Risk Among Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Adults - National Institute of
Mental Health (NIMH) (accessed 22 December, 2024). Some claim that the cause of suicide among
such persons is due to their minority status, but one might ask whether the
internal disorder causing sexual dysphoria is also the cause of higher suicide
rates.
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