Deaths by suicide in the EU down by 13% in a decade

In 2021, there were 47,346 deaths due to suicide in the EU, corresponding to 0.9% of all deaths reported that year. This is the equivalent of an average of 10.2 deaths per 100,000 people. 

Compared with 2011, the first year for which there is data, the number of deaths by suicide decreased by 13.3% (down 7,277 deaths). In 2011, the standardized death rate for suicide in the EU was 12.4 deaths per 100,000 people.

This news item marks the World Suicide Prevention Day on 10 September. 

Highest suicide rate in Slovenia, lowest in Cyprus

Among EU countries, Slovenia registered the highest rate of suicide in 2021 with 19.8 deaths per 100 000 inhabitants, followed by Lithuania (19.5) and Hungary (15.7). 

At the opposite end of the scale, Cyprus recorded the lowest standardized death rates for suicide (2.7 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants), ahead of Greece (4.2) and Italy (5.9).

When looking at regional data (NUTS2), the Limousin region in France recorded the highest standardised death rate for suicide at 21.9 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants. This region was followed by the Dél-Alföld region in Hungary (21.7) and Vzhodna region in Slovenia (21.6). By contrast, the regions with the lowest suicide death rates were Voreio Aigaio in Greece (1.5), Mayotte in France (1.8) and Cyprus (2.7).

Source dataset: hlth_cd_aro

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Men account for more deaths by suicide than women

As in previous years, the suicide rate was higher among men than women, with men accounting for 76.7% of all deaths by suicide.

The highest number of suicide deaths in the EU was recorded in the 45 to 64 age group, with 17 441 deaths, accounting for 37% of the total. The 65 and over age group followed closely with 15,998 deaths, representing 34% of the total.

For more information

• Thematic section on health
• Database on health

Methodological notes

• Statistics on the causes of death are based on the medical information provided in the death certificate. Causes of death are classified by the 86 causes in the European shortlist which is based on the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD).
• Regulation on Community statistics on public health and health and safety at work (EC) No 1338/2008 is the framework of the data collection on the domain. Within the context of this framework Regulation, the Commission adopted a Regulation on statistics on causes of death (EU) No 328/2011 which specifies the data to be collected. This regulation allows countries to transmit statistics on the causes of death up until 2 years after the end of the reference year. Eurostat and countries make efforts to increase the timeliness by putting in place a voluntary data transmission deadline at 18 months after the reference year. Eurostat also disseminated all statistics that can be calculated as soon as possible after a country has transmitted their data. The time needed by countries to process the death certificates and to have the data ready for national publication differs quite a lot but usually, it lasts from 6 months to 26 months.
• In case you or somebody you know is struggling with the issues mentioned in this article, you can find a support service on the following Mental Health Europe page.

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