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According to the World Health Organization, about one person in 5–15 thousand dies by suicide yearly, with a worldwide assessed rate of 10.5 per 100 thousand population, down from 11.6 in 2008. Nowadays, in total worldwide, 703 thousand people die by suicide every year. In high-income developed nations, male and female rates of suicidal behaviors contrast much compared to those in the rest of the globe. While females are reportedly more exposed to suicidal thoughts, rates of suicide are higher among males, which has been defined as a “silent epidemic.”
Globally, most deaths by suicide occurred in low-and-middle-income nations (77%), where most of the world’s population lives.
More than half of suicides (58%) worldwide occurred before 50 years.
Most adolescents who died by suicide (88%) were from low- and middle-income nations, where nearly 90% of the world’s youngsters live.
Suicide was the 4th leading reason of death in young people aged 15–29 years for both sexes, after roadway injury, tuberculosis, and social violence.
Worldwide, death by suicide happens about 1.7 times more often among males than among females. In the Western world, males die by suicide 3 to 4 times more often than females. This greater male frequency is raised in those over the age of 65.
The map below shows how many males die of suicide for every female that dies of suicide, calculated as follows the male suicide rate divided by the female suicide rate (Ratio = Male suicide rate / Female suicide rate). Thus, countries in green have one male suicide for each female suicide, and a black one would be seven male suicides for each female suicide.
Most nations report a higher male suicide rate, as worldwide, there are about three male suicides out of 4, or a factor of 3:1. For instance, in the U.S. suicide rate was 3.53 in 2016.
For comparison, in Russia, the male suicide rate is 38.2 per 100k population, and the female suicide rate is 7.2 per 100k population, so the ratio would be 38.2 / 7.2 = 5.3
While Grenada, with a ratio of 0.71, is the only nation with more female suicides than males, 0.5 for males vs. 0.7 for females per 100k population.
According to scientists, gender is a significant indicator of suicide based on the social constructions of hegemonic masculinity and femininity. According to the publications on gender and suicide, male suicide rates are described in terms of traditional gender roles. Male gender roles emphasize greater strength, independence, risk-taking behavior, economic status, and individualism. Reinforcement of this gender role often prevents males from seeking help for suicidal feelings and depression.
Interestingly, suicide attempts are between 2 and 4 times more frequent among females. Scientists have partly attributed the difference between suicide and attempted suicide among the sexes to males using more lethal means to end their lives.
In the 20 years between 2000 and 2019, the global age-standardized suicide rate dropped by 36%, with declines ranging from 17% in the Eastern Mediterranean Region to 47% in the European Region and 49% in the Western Pacific Region. The only increase in age-standardized suicide rates was in the Americas, reaching 17% in the same period.
