Around 48 700 people in the European Union (EU) died as a result of intentional self-harm in 2016, corresponding to 1% of all deaths reported that year. Almost 8 in 10 of these suicides (77%) were among men.
On average, there were almost 11 deaths per 100 000 inhabitants resulting from suicide in the EU in 2016.
Standardised death rates for suicide: highest in Lithuania, lowest in Cyprus
In 2017, among the EU Member States, Lithuania registered the highest rate of suicide at 26 deaths per 100 000 inhabitants, followed by Slovenia (20 deaths per 100 000 inhabitants), Latvia (18), Estonia and Hungary (both 17).
At the opposite end of the scale, Cyprus recorded the lowest standardised death rates for suicide (4 deaths per 100 000 inhabitants), followed by Greece and Malta (both 5), Italy (6) and Slovakia (7).
Regional patterns for standardised death rates for suicide
When looking at regional data (NUTS2), the Central and Western regions of Lithuania recorded the highest standardised death rate for suicide at 28 deaths per 100 000 inhabitants. This was followed by Luxembourg, in the Walloon Region in Belgium, with 25 deaths per 100 000 inhabitants, the South Great Plain in Hungary (23) and East Slovenia (23).
At the other end of the scale, the regions with the smallest number of deaths resulting from suicide were: Mayotte in France (in 2016), Campania in Italy, Ceuta in Spain and Central Greece (Sterea Ellada) in Greece. All of these recorded a standardised death rate for suicide of 3 deaths per 100 000 inhabitants.
Source datasets: hlth_cd_asdr2 (rate) and hlth_cd_aro (absolute number)
For more information, take a look at the Statistics Explained article on Causes of death statistics.
This news item marks the World Suicide Prevention Day on 10 September.
Notes:
- Regional data for Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Iceland and Liechtenstein: single regions at this level of detail.
- Regional data available for 2016: all French regions.
- This list shows translations of the names of regions in the EU Member States into English.
- The European Union (EU) includes 27 EU Member States. The United Kingdom left the European Union on 31 January 2020. Further information is published here.
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