This article is dedicated to the cities with the highest suicide rate per capita in 2018, as the suicide is one of the serious but preventable issues related to mental health.
Let’s see first some facts about suicides here. Around 800,000 people commit suicide annually in the world, also being the main cause of death among younger population (15-19 years). In general, suicide rates are more prone to happen in rural areas throughout the world, triggered by many factors that impact the quality of life such as isolation, poverty, hard living conditions, etc. It is also worth mentioning that suicide rates among males are (much) higher than suicide rates in women in general.
In countries like Russia, for example (being among the countries with the highest suicidal rates in the world), some of the main reasons for male predominance in suicides is alcohol consumption. Seemingly for the same reason, the most of suicide happen in Belarus with the suicide rate even 2.5 times higher in rural than urban parts of the country. In the highest suicidal state of the US (and you can check which the 16 Highest Suicidal States in America in 2018 are), Wyoming, the most suicides happen in rural areas and small isolated towns as well.
It is also an interesting fact that Europe is the region with the highest suicide rates (especially Northern Europe, Eastern Europe, and the Baltic region), with Lithuania, Estonia, Belarus, Hungary, Russia, Poland, Latvia among the highest suicidal countries in Europe.
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There was no particular statistics to be found on the matter of cities with highest suicide rate per capita, so we have applied other tactics here. We have gone through the regions of the world that have the highest rates of suicides first. The data for that was obtained from World Health Organization from the categories crude suicide rates and age-standardized rates. We also used OECD’s data on suicide rates in countries they have covered, as well as World Population Review’s data. Then when we have targeted the highest regions we have sought for particular countries and cities within them that have the highest suicide rates. And although the majority of data represents the cumulative results in some longer period of time, the trends are more or less the same for 2018 as well.
But then after checking the highest suicidal countries (and since it is not our subject now, you can check the data on highest suicidal country in 30 Countries with the Highest Suicide Rates in the World ), we have tried to compare the suicide rates in cities and within the country in general, since, as we have already pointed out, most suicides actually happen in rural areas. So the conclusion – not all the countries with highest suicide rates would also have the highest suicidal cities in the world.
Although we are talking about cities here, the vast majority of suicide in the countries, in general, is done by people living in rural areas as we have noted. But on the other hand, there are many “popular” interesting and mysterious places where suicides take place. Among them, apart from famous Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, one such place is Aokigahara forest in Japan, which seems to be among the favorite places to take suicide. Many people who decide to take their lives choose this destination, and hence the number of suicide in Aokigahara forest is rising. Therefore many signs saying stuff like “Your life is a precious gift from your parents” have been put, but it seems with no positive effect.
On the more bright side, one of the least suicidal countries is surprisingly (or not) Saudi Arabia, followed by Syria and Lebanon, Kuwait, Oman, and Jamaica, as the data from 2012 suggests. But, more interestingly, countries that are marked as the “happiest countries” in the world are showing a high rate of suicides. Such as the example of Switzerland where around 1,000 suicides are committed annually. There are also the Nordic countries like Finland or Denmark which also show a high percentage of suicides.
Anyways, putting countries aside, let’s see which those cities with the highest suicide rate per capita in 2018 are:
17. St. Petersburg, Russia
Even though there are certainly some less known cities in Russia with high suicide rates, we have been provided with the figure of 17.8 suicides per 100.000 people in St. Petersburg, which is a figure just above the average global suicide rates. Nevertheless, Russia is among top countries in the world with the cities with the highest suicide rate per capita in 2018.
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16. Tokyo, Japan
Japan is a wealthy country, being among the top largest economies in the world. But it seems that wealth and prosperity of the country do not minimize the suicidal trend in some countries. We have mentioned Aokigahara forest as one of the favorite spots for suicides in Japan, but in the city of Tokyo, one such place is the Shin-Koiwa train station. For that reason, there were numerous barriers put on platforms in order to prevent people from committing suicides as well as calming pictures and suicide hotline phone numbers.
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15. Riga, Latvia
Suicides in Baltic countries are among the highest in the world as we have seen. The country’s average suicide rate is around 19.2 suicides per 100.000 people. The majority of suicides is committed by males, which is 5 times higher than in females.
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14. Seoul, South Korea
South Korea is developed country being the 4th top economy in Asia and 11th largest economy in the world rankings. But it seems that suicide rates in this country are very high. There could be many reasons for Koreans committing suicides, and researches have shown that 90% of suicides were committed as a result of mental conditions such as anxiety and depression, caused by stress.
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13. Lodz, Poland
Poland is yet another European country with high suicide rates. Lodz is the town that seems to be among the cities with the highest suicide rate per capita in Poland. And of all the suicides, 80% are committed by males, and the most common method is by the old school hanging.
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12. Arlon, Belgium
Belgium is one of the European countries with the highest suicide rates. The suicide rates very from region to region, of course, having the province of Wallonia leading in suicides. The county of Luxemburg with its capital city of Arlon seems to be among the top suicidal cities in this country with 26 suicides per 100.000 people.
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11. Sofala, Mozambique
Mozambique is the country with the highest suicide rates in Africa. Although the research on suicides Mozambique had not been conducted equally across the nation, even with the available figures, this country tops the African continent on suicide matter. In this list, we have taken into account the city of Sofala, because the most research on suicides in Mozambique were done on the sample of this city.
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And now, let’s see the top ten cities with the highest suicide rate per capita in 2018.
10. Budapest, Hungary
Hungary has always been known as a country with the high number of suicides. Well, it is still the case today, Hungary is still among the top European countries leading in suicide numbers.
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9. Minsk, Belarus
And once again, we come to the Eastern Europe, depression and alcohol problems which are related to the suicides in Belarus as well. In Belarus, and in Minsk, it seems that suicide is highly related to the use of alcohol.
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8. Alto, Bolivia
Bolivia has a high suicide rate in general, being around 20 suicides per 100.000 people, but when it comes to urban areas, and especially youth suicides, Alto is the leading city on this matter.
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7. Nickerie, Suriname
Suriname is among the top countries in the world with the high suicide rates. And of urban areas, Nickerie is among the top cities with the highest suicide rates per capita in 2018 as well in this country.
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6. Vavuniya, Sri Lanka
According to the data obtained from the World Health Organization and the OECD we have provided in the introduction to this list of cities with the highest suicide rate per capita in 2018, Sri Lanka is the world’s leading country when it comes to suicide rate (with around 35 suicides per 100.000 people). Vavuniya, together with Jaffna and Polonnaruwa, is the city with the highest suicide rates in Sri Lanka.
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5. Nuuk, Greenland
Greenland has a population of only around 56,000 people, and its capital, Nuuk, around 17,000 inhabitants, making it the most populated place in the country. But nevertheless, Nuuk was also once known as the world’s capital suicide city and among the highest suicide rates in the world.
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4. Asansol, India
For a city oh approximately half million people the figure of 31.3 suicides per 100.000 people puts Asansol among the top cities with the highest suicide rate per capita in 2018.
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3. Gorno-Altaysk, Russia
The highest percentage of suicides in Russia is observed in the Altai Republic with 54.1 suicides per 100.000 people, and Gorno-Altaysk being its capital, is represented among the cities with the highest suicide rates per capita.
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And now, let’s see the top two cities with the highest suicide rate per capita in 2018.
2. Bhopal, India
It can be easily said that Bhopal is India’s capital suicide city. The suicide rate is 56.6 per 100,000 people, and a city of around 1.7 million people. So, having that figure in mind, it is not only the statistical but a quantitative leader in suicides in India.
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1. Varena, Lithuania
Lithuania is the country with the most suicides in Europe and among the most suicidal countries in the world. Numbers say it all. With 71.9 suicides per 100,000 people, Varena, a small town of the mostly rural province of Lithuania, tops the list of cities with the highest suicide rate per capita in 2018.
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