List of countries by suicide rate
The following are lists of countries by suicide rate as per data published by the World Health Organization and other sources.
About one person in 5,000–15,000 dies by suicide every year, with an estimated global rate of 10.5 per 100,000 population down from 11.6 in 2008.
In high-income and modernised countries more than elsewhere, male and female rates of suicidal behaviors differ much compared to those in the rest of the world: while women are reportedly more prone to suicidal thoughts, rates of suicide are shockingly higher among men. The most suicidal country in the entire world is Greenland, after its last decades modernizing transformation from remote colony to welfare state, with a male-female ratio of 2.99. India, of the Southeast Asia region, is the greatest contributor to the absolute number of suicide deaths. Europe is the most suicidal region in the world, while the Eastern Mediterranean is the least.
According to a recent study, the global rates of suicide death have fallen by a third between 1990 and 2016 if data is asymmetrically adjusted for age, meaning the number of committed suicides by younger people decreased in particular. Worldwide, the rates in 2016 were about 16 deaths per 100,000 men and 7 deaths per 100,000 women: women also experienced a greater decrease compared with men over the study period.
List by the World Health Organization (2016)
Source: World Health OrganizationWHO region | Crude rate | Age-standardized rate | Crude male rate | Crude female rate | Male-female ratio |
Europe | 15.4 | 12.85 | 24.7 | 6.6 | 3.74 |
Southeast Asia | 13.2 | 13.40 | 14.8 | 11.6 | 1.28 |
10.6 | 10.53 | 13.5 | 7.7 | 1.75 | |
Western Pacific | 10.2 | 8.45 | 10.9 | 9.4 | 1.16 |
Americas | 9.8 | 9.25 | 15.1 | 4.6 | 3.28 |
Africa | 7.4 | 11.96 | 9.9 | 4.8 | 2.06 |
Eastern Mediterranean | 3.9 | 4.30 | 5.1 | 2.7 | 1.89 |
Income group | Suicides, 2012 | Global % | Rate | Male:Female |
High-income countries | 197 | 24.5% | 12.7 | 3.5 : 1 |
Upper-middle-income countries | 192 | 23.8% | 7.5 | 1.3 : 1 |
Lower-middle-income countries | 333 | 41.4% | 14.1 | 1.7 : 1 |
Low-income countries | 82 | 10.2% | 13.4 | 1.7 : 1 |
Global | 804 | 100.0% | 11.4 | 1.9 : 1 |
Male and female suicide rates are out of total male population and total female population, respectively. 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. 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, and vice versa when rounded down.
Most countries listed below report a higher male suicide rate, as worldwide there are about 3 male suicides out of 4, or a factor of 3:1. Low population countries are excluded.
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. Also, 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 at and .
List by other sources and years (1985–2018)
In this list 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.Regions | Male | Female | Average | Year |
84.99 | 28.44 | 58.28 | 2016 | |
65.1 | 12.4 | 28.27 | 2016 | |
38.5 | 14.8 | 26.6 | 2018 | |
41.25 | 10.20 | 25.52 | 2017 | |
40.68 | 8.01 | 23.81 | 2017 | |
18.09 | 2016 | |||
14.6 | 2018 | |||
17.98 | 2016 | |||
20.5 | 2017 | |||
20.1 | 2018 | |||
22.4 | 2016 | |||
18 | 2018 | |||
18.56 | 2016 | |||
15.9 | 2016 | |||
13.52 | 2016 | |||
17.0 | 2016 | |||
23.1 | 10.1 | 16.5 | 2018 | |
21.8 | 11.1 | 16.4 | 2018 | |
16 | 2016 | |||
12.16 | 2017 | |||
23.8 | 7.1 | 13.69 | 2016 | |
15.4 | 2005 | |||
14.31 | 2016 | |||
13.21 | 2016 | |||
23.9 | 4.8 | 14.4 | 2005 | |
22.3 | 6.9 | 14.26 | 2016 | |
10.33 | 2016 | |||
21.8 | 6.0 | 14.5 | 2017 | |
12.28 | 2016 | |||
13.7 | 2017 | |||
13.6 | 2012 | |||
12.57 | 2016 | |||
11.29 | 2016 | |||
19.0 | 5.5 | 12.3 | 2008 | |
9.24 | 2016 | |||
19.0 | 5.8 | 12.3 | 2014–15 | |
16.2 | 8.8 | 12.3 | 2011 | |
11.73 | 2016 | |||
8.95 | 2016 | |||
10.13 | 2016 | |||
12.08 | 2016 | |||
11.2 | 2018 | |||
16.9 | 5.3 | 11.5 | 2009 | |
12.3 | 2016 | |||
18.2 | 4.2 | 11.2 | 2007 | |
17 | 5.8 | 11.2 | 2011 | |
18.0 | 6.0 | 12.0 | 2015 | |
17.9 | 3.8 | 10.7 | 2006 | |
13.0 | 7.8 | 10.5 | 2009 | |
17.4 | 3.4 | 10.3 | 2013 | |
13.3 | 7.3 | 10.3 | 2012 | |
12.7 | 2017 | |||
7.48 | 2016 | |||
China | 9.8 | 2014 | ||
14.1 | 3.6 | 8.8 | 2009 | |
13.8 | 3.5 | 8.6 | 1998 | |
12.7 | 4.1 | 8.3 | 2013 | |
12.6 | 3.9 | 8.0 | 2009 | |
12.9 | 3.6 | 8.0 | 2008 | |
12.7 | 3.8 | 8.0 | 2016 | |
10.6 | 5.2 | 7.9 | 1990 | |
13.2 | 2.9 | 7.8 | 2008 | |
12.6 | 3.0 | 7.7 | 2008 | |
10.5 | 3.6 | 7.1 | 2009 | |
11.8 | 1.9 | 6.8 | 2008 | |
10.2 | 1.9 | 6.1 | 2009 | |
9.7 | 2.58 | 6.03 | 2013 | |
8.6 | 3.1 | 5.85 | 2011 | |
9.9 | 2.1 | 5.8 | 2007 | |
9.0 | 2.6 | 5.8 | 2006 | |
9.0 | 1.9 | 5.5 | 2008 | |
7.9 | 2.0 | 4.9 | 2007 | |
7.7 | 2.0 | 4.8 | 2008 | |
3.9 | 2.1 | 4.8 | 2013 | |
7.0 | 2.3 | 4.7 | 2005 | |
4.6 | 2008 | |||
7.1 | 1.7 | 4.3 | 2009 | |
4.19 | 2013 | |||
4.7 | 3.3 | 4.0 | 2003 | |
6.8 | 1.3 | 4.0 | 2008 | |
3.84 | 2011 | |||
4.0 | 3.5 | 3.8 | 2006 | |
6.6 | 0.7 | 3.7 | 2008 | |
5.4 | 1.9 | 3.7 | 2008 | |
5.1 | 2.0 | 3.6 | 2008 | |
5.9 | 1.3 | 3.6 | 2009 | |
5.6 | 1.7 | 3.6 | 2008 | |
7.3 | 0.0 | 3.5 | 2006 | |
6.1 | 1.0 | 3.5 | 2009 | |
5.9 | 1.0 | 3.4 | 2008 | |
5.3 | 1.2 | 3.2 | 2007 | |
4.5 | 1.0 | 2.75 | 2005 | |
2.9 | 2.3 | 2.6 | 2001 | |
4.9 | 0.0 | 2.4 | 2005 | |
3.9 | 0.7 | 2.3 | 2005 | |
2.8 | 1.1 | 1.9 | 2008 | |
1.9 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 2009 | |
1.9 | 0.6 | 1.2 | 2005 | |
1.45 | 0.71 | 1.10 | 2012 | |
1.1 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 2000 | |
0.0 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 1987 | |
1.0 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 2007 | |
0.7 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 2005 | |
0.3 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 1990 | |
0.2 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 1985 | |
0.2 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 2008 | |
0.1 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 2009 | |
0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2008 | |
0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1995 | |
0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1995 | |
0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2003 | |
0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2003 |