SUICIDE RATE IN EU ABOVE GLOBAL AVERAGE

BRUSSELS, SEPTEMBER 9 /SRNA/ – The suicide rate in the European Union remains above the global average, with more than 48,000 people taking their own lives in a single year, read the data published by Eurostat and the latest comparable global estimates from the World Health Organization /WHO/.

According to the latest Eurostat data, 48,370 people in the EU died by suicide in 2023, accounting for approximately one percent of all deaths.

The standardized rate was 10.4 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

On the contrary, the latest WHO global estimates, dating from 2021, show a global average rate of 8.9 cases per 100,000 people.

Men accounted for 76.4 percent of suicides in the EU. The rate among men reached 16.9 cases per 100,000, compared with 5.0 among women.

Overall, the number of suicides in the EU has been gradually declining. In 2013, the rate stood at 12.2 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

Among EU countries, the highest rates were recorded in Lithuania /18.8 cases per 100,000 inhabitants/, Slovenia /16.4/ and Hungary /16.1/.