Our list of top 10 most suicidal countries in the world definitely consists of countries burdened with some serious social problems, which make living in them quite depressing for some social groups. If you are interested in which countries have their younger parts of population depressed the most, check out our list of 10 Countries with the Highest Youth Suicide Rates in theWorld.
According to the World Health Organization “Every 40 seconds a person dies by suicide somewhere in the world”. That claim is derived from a statistic that over 800,000 suicides are committed every year. Considering the numbers, it is quite worrying that only 28 countries have a national suicide prevention strategy. Only 60 countries, members of WHO, have what is considered a good quality data for estimates of theirs suicide rates. More than 78 percent of suicides in 2015, were committed in low and middle-income countries. Almost every third suicide, is a pesticide self-poisoning, while hanging and firearms are also common methods. Known risk factors are mental disorders, especially depression and alcohol use, but many people kill themselves as a reaction to a stressful event, such as losing a job, breaking up/getting divorced, and getting diagnosed with terminal illness, without a prior diagnosis of depression. There is a claim, that can be found frequently on the internet that 80 to 90 percent of suicide cases had depression, some even say over 90 percent, it is as if that estimated number is growing, because it is unacceptable for it to be less than 100 percent. According to American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the number is over 50 percent, and if alcoholics who are depressed are also counted the number is over 75 percent.
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Suicide rates for men are on average about four times as big as suicide rates for women. Usuall follow up to that is that women have twice as many attempted suicides as men. And the explanation for that is, that they use less effective methods than men because they think about how they will look afterward. However, only about 5 percent of attempted suicides, are actually attempts at suicide, and in fact are attempts of getting attention, in order to find the solution to the problem, while those who kill themselves really see suicide as a solution. This is why, women that commit suicide, use same lethal methods used by men, and obviously don’t think about how they will look thereafter. The reason why men have so much bigger suicide rates is that men are not raised to seek help and express emotions, but to “man up”. The end result, is that unlike women, who are likely to seek help, talk about their problems with friends, and “attempt” suicide, before losing all hope, suicidal men fall through the cracks, not seeking help and end up with final “solution”. Our society is in need of change, and seeking help, should not be seen as a sign of weakness.
For our top 10 most suicidal countries in the world, we are using age-standardized suicide rates – number of suicides per 100,000 population, data for the year 2015 from the World Health Organization.
10. South Korea
suicide rate: 24.1 per capita
Extremely fast economic growth, and the fact that national pension system didn’t exist in South Korea until 1988, resulted in a very large population of old people living today in poverty, and feeling that they are just a burden. However, this is not the only reason why suicide rates in South Korea are 36.1 for men, and 13.4 for women. Very harsh and competitive schooling system, and the feeling that most young Koreans have is that they will not get a job unless they get a degree from the best college, results in suicide being a leading cause of death in Koreans aged 15 to 24.
9. Angola
suicide rate: 25.9 per capita
Angola is not the only country on our list of top 10 most suicidal countries in the world, that was ruined by civil war. After 27 years of civil war, that ended in 2002, very large part of the population lives in poverty. The suicide rate for men is 38.1, and for women 14.3.
8. Lithuania
suicide rate: 26.1 per capita
The suicide rate for men in Lithuania is 47.1, and for women 8.1.
7. Equatorial Guinea
suicide rate: 26.6 per capita
The suicide rate for men in Equatorial Guinea is 39.1, and 13.2 for women.
6. Suriname
suicide rate: 26.9 per capita
Suriname has a suicide rate of 41.6 for men, and 12.6 for women.
5. Côte d’Ivoire
suicide rate: 27.2 per capita
The poverty rate of 46.3 percent, is probably the leading cause of high suicide rates in Ivory Coast, that are 38.8 for men, and 14.4 for women.
4. Kazakhstan
suicide rate: 27.5 suicide rate per capita
We are continuing our list of top 10 most suicidal countries in the world with Kazakhstan that has a suicide rate for men is 48.1, and 9.6 for women.
3. Mongolia
suicide rate: 28.1 per capita
The suicide rate for men in Mongolia is 48.2, and for women 9.2.
2. Guyana
suicide rate: 30.6 per capita
At number two on our list of top 10 most suicidal countries in the world we have Guyana that has the worst suicide rate in the world for women of 15.5, and a suicide rate of 46 for men.
1. Sri Lanka
suicide rate: 34.6 per capita
A civil war that lasted for about a quarter of a century, left economy and social structures of Sri Lanka in shambles. Suicide rates skyrocketed during the civil war, and even though the civil war ended in 2009, they remain to be quite high, with a suicide rate for men of 58.8, and a suicide rate of 13.3 for women, so it is no wonder that Sri Lanka is number one in the top 10 most suicidal countries in the world.
