Following a revision of Slovenian data by the Slovenian National Institute of Public Health, this news item has been updated on 28 September 2021.
In 2019, 7.2% of EU citizens reported having chronic depression, a small increase compared with 2014 (+0.3 percentage points).
Among the EU countries, Portugal (12.2%) had the highest share of the population reporting chronic depression in 2019, followed Sweden (11.7%), Germany and Croatia (both 11.6%).
In contrast, the share of people reporting chronic depression was lowest in Romania (1.0%), Bulgaria (2.7%) and Malta (3.5%).
Source dataset: hlth_ehis_cd1e
In 2019, the share of people reporting chronic depression was higher for women than men in all EU Member States.
Portugal recorded the highest share of women reporting chronic depression (16.4%), followed by Croatia and Sweden (both with 13.4%) as well as Germany (13.1%). The highest share of men reporting chronic depression was registered in Sweden (10.0%), Germany (9.9%), Denmark and Croatia (both 9.2%).
This news item is published on the occasion of World Suicide Prevention Day, joining hands with the rest of the world to raise awareness of suicide and mental health.
For more information:
- Eurostat dedicated section on health statistics
- Eurostat database on health statistics
- The indicator presented in this article refers to the proportion of the population reporting chronic depression in the past 12 months.
- The data are from the third wave of the European Health Interview Survey (EHIS), conducted in 2019 covering people aged 15 and over. You can read more about the EHIS in the methodological Statistics Explained article.
- Detailed data related to deaths caused by intentional self-harm can be found here.
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