Suicide (Self-Harm)
Age-standardized death rate from Suicide (Self-Harm) across countries, with trends from 1990 to 2021.
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This page shows age-standardized death rates for suicide (self-harm) across 204 countries, sourced from the IHME Global Burden of Disease Study 2023 via Our World in Data. Age-standardized rates adjust for differences in age structure between populations, enabling fair comparisons across countries and over time. The data spans from 1990 to the latest available year.
Suicide (Self-Harm) mortality patterns are shaped by healthcare access, public health infrastructure, socioeconomic conditions, and disease-specific prevention and treatment programs. Explore regional breakdowns, country comparisons, and historical trends using the tools and pages linked below.
Suicide — intentional self-inflicted death — claims over 700,000 lives globally each year, making it a leading cause of death among young adults aged 15-29 in many countries. The aetiology is multifactorial: psychiatric illness (particularly major depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia), substance use disorders, chronic pain, social isolation, economic hardship, and access to lethal means all contribute to risk. Men die by suicide at roughly twice the rate of women globally, though women attempt suicide more frequently — a phenomenon termed the gender paradox of suicidal behaviour. Geographical variation is stark: age-standardised suicide rates in high-income countries of Eastern Europe and East Asia significantly exceed those in Latin America and parts of Africa, though underreporting in low-income settings complicates comparisons. Pesticide self-poisoning accounts for an estimated 20% of global suicides, predominantly in rural agricultural communities across South and Southeast Asia. COVID-19 amplified risk factors through social isolation, economic disruption, and disrupted mental health services, though its aggregate impact on suicide rates has varied across countries.
Evidence-based suicide prevention encompasses restriction of access to means (pesticide bans, firearm regulations, bridge barriers), gatekeeper training for primary care providers and community members, school-based programmes for adolescents, crisis helplines, and follow-up contact after suicide attempts. National suicide prevention strategies, recommended by the WHO, provide coordinated frameworks that integrate mental health services, surveillance, and public awareness campaigns. Media guidelines on responsible reporting of suicide are also essential to prevent contagion effects.
Across the 210 countries tracked in this dataset, suicide (self-harm) accounts for an average of 1.2% of total deaths. The highest share is recorded in Greenland at 8.3%, while West Bank and Gaza records the lowest at 0.11%. These figures reflect the most recent available data and illustrate the vast geographic variation in suicide (self-harm) mortality burden.