Discovering the 30 countries with the highest suicide rates in the world really makes you wonder what these unfortunate nations are doing wrong to make so much of their citizens take their own lives.
Whenever a person commits suicide, the reaction that most often reaches my ears is that of disgust: the assertion that Mr. XYZ was a coward and left behind his family/children/wife etc. to fend for themselves. Obviously, it astounds me to know that even in this day and time, people cannot comprehend that mental illness can drive you to do inexplicable things; and the fact remains that mental illness happens to be the biggest driving force of suicide, even in the US as our piece on the 10 biggest causes of suicide in America: Poverty, Bullying, Mental Illness clearly indicates.
What is it about mental illness that people cannot seem to fathom? The stigma is long from over. How can I say that you ask? Well, on my analysis of depression rates by country, it became clear that the United States is almost top of that list with a depression rate of 19.2%, coming second only to France’s 21%. However, what agitates me is that 56% of adults who have mental illness do not receive treatment! And that’s not even counting the youth, whose mental illness situation is worsening by the year. So if the second most depressed country in the world happens to house an unbelievable amount of untreated patients, what does that tell you about the state of mental health awareness in the country? Does it not drive you to conclude that the stigma attached to mental health has not yet been obliterated? What’s sad is that this situation may be causing the youth of the nation to suffer more than necessary. In fact, the US even made an appearance on the 10 countries with the highest youth suicide rates in the world.
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Even though the US did not become part of this list of most suicidal countries, if some of its states were separate countries, they surely would have, especially Montana and Alaska which happen to be among the highest suicidal states, with rates of 23.7 and 23.1 per 100,000 population respectively, while the highest suicidal cities are Las Vegas and Colorado Springs.
Moving on from America, let’s look at some suicide statistics from all over the world, shall we? Well, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), 800,000 people fall victim to suicides annually, which means one person commits suicide every 40 seconds! Incredulously, 15-29 year-olds have suicide to blame as the second leading cause of death in that age group. If you are interested in more statistics like these, you can head on over to our piece on WHO Suicide and Depression Statistics by 11 Countries, while we get on with compiling our list of the 30 countries with the highest suicide rates in the world.
We decided to extend our previous list of the top 10 most suicidal countries in the world, using WHO statistics on age-standardized suicide rates. Unfortunately, the latest data pertains to 2015 so you will have to wait for the highest suicidal country 2016 and the highest suicidal country 2017. Before we begin, let me throw another interesting fact at you. There is actually a nation in the world with a suicide rate of zero! Antigua and Barbuda admittedly has a very tiny population but has managed to pull off a suicide-free zone. Barbados is close with a suicide rate of merely 0.3. It seems that the least suicidal countries happen to be doing quite well for themselves. The countries with the highest suicide rates in the world are not though, so let’s finally list them down.
30. Nigeria
Suicide rate per 100,000 population: 15.1
We begin our list with the African country of Nigeria where the suicide rate among men is 20.3, while among females the number stands at 9.9.
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28. Uruguay
Suicide rate per 100,000 population: 15.2
Uruguay has tied with North Korea at the 28th spot, and although it is not at all a densely populated nation, it still manages to produce 15.2 suicides per 100,000 population.
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28. Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
Suicide rate per 100,000 population: 15.2
A notorious dictatorship still prevailing over the nation, North Korea and its citizens it seems are not doing well at all considering that the nation has made an appearance on the list of countries with the highest suicide rates. There isn’t even much of a divide between the male and female suicide rates, which amount to 17.3 and 14.3 respectively.
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26. Togo
Suicide rate per 100,000 population: 15.4
One of the smallest nations in Africa, Togo appears on our list of countries with the highest suicide rates in the world on the 26th spot, with males committing the act at a rate of 23.1 and females at 8.7.
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26. Japan
Suicide rate per 100,000 population: 15.4
It is a common theory that intelligent people tend to have more suicidal thoughts than average, and since Japan is stereotypically known as a smart nation, is it really a surprise that it ended up here?
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25. Hungary
Suicide rate per 100,000 population: 15.7
The first European state to enter our list, Hungary’s suicide rate has been dwindling steadily with it being 19.2 in 2010 to 15.7 in 2015. This decrease is evident in both female and male suicides.
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24. India
Suicide rate per 100,000 population: 16
India is another one with decreasing suicide rates, from 17.7 in 2010 to 16 in 2015: clearly a huge improvement.
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23. Belgium
Suicide rate per 100,000 population: 16.1
This beautiful country with medieval sites scattered all through it may seem like a heavenly place, but turns out it is one of the countries with the highest suicide rates in the world!
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22. Burkina Faso
Suicide rate per 100,000 population: 16.5
Suicide rates in Burkina Faso have been escalating over the years. An increase of 0.8 per 100,000 population was seen over the course of 10 years, which might not seem like much but shows a dangerous outlook for the country.
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21. Ukraine
Suicide rate per 100,000 population: 16.6
Ukraine is almost head to head with Burkina Faso, but its suicide rates are slowly going down, which means it may well lose a few ranks when future statistics are released.
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20. Latvia
Suicide rate per 100,000 population: 17.4
A member of the European Union, Latvia has a stupendous rate of suicide among males standing at 31.9, compared to the female rate of 4.8.
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19. Cameroon
Suicide rate per 100,000 population: 17.5
Unsurprisingly, African nations, seem to be cropping up quite a lot on our list of countries with the highest suicide rates in the world. Cameroon’s suicide rate has remained stable from 2010 to 2015, merely dropping from 17.6 to 17.5.
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17. Swaziland
Suicide rate per 100,000 population: 17.9
One of the few monarchies in the world, Swaziland has a male suicide rate of 27.3 and a female suicide rate of 9.6.
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17. Russia
Suicide rate per 100,000 population: 17.9
The males in Russia appear to be struggling to a great extent as an astounding 32.2 males per 100,000 are victims of suicide while only 5.6 females correspond to that figure. In fact, the whole reason Russia has ended up here is because of the suicides prevalent among the former gender.
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16. Zimbabwe
Suicide rate per 100,000 population: 18
Zimbabwe has been accused of human rights violations plenty of times, which is maybe why its citizens resort to suicide. Though, of course, there may be various other reasons too.
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15. Poland
Suicide rate per 100,000 population: 18.5
Poland, another European country on our list of countries with the highest suicide rates in the world, presents a male suicide rate of 32.7 and that of females, 4.9.
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14. Belarus
Suicide rate per 100,000 population: 19.1
The only country in Europe to still believe in capital punishment for crimes committed at a time of peace, Belarus’s suicide rates have decreased considerably over the years, from 23.6 in 2010 to the 19.1 seen above.
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13. The Central African Republic
Suicide rate per 100,000 population: 19.6
Like so many nations in its continent, Central African Republic is in the throes of civil war, and wars are often thought to have an adverse effect on the number of suicides occurring in a nation.
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12. Bolivia
Suicide rate per 100,000 population: 20.5
With Bolivia, we reach the 12th spot on our list of countries with the highest suicide rates in the world, from where the rates have unfortunately surpassed 20.
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11. Sierra Leone
Suicide rate per 100,000 population: 22.1
Sierra Leone is actually the nation which has the lowest life expectancy in the world and of course suicide definitely contributes to some of the deaths.
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10. Republic of Korea
Suicide rate per 100,000 population: 24.1
South Korea is a highly developed nation, with great health care, education, and employment, yet the fact that it produces so many suicides really makes one ponder.
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9. Angola
Suicide rate per 100,000 population: 25.9
Angola has an unusually high female suicide rate standing at 14.3, and although it is quite low when seen with the male suicide rate of 38.1, it is generally higher than other countries.
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8. Lithuania
Suicide rate per 100,000 population: 26.1
Another nation with a fast-growing economy has ended up on our list of countries with the highest suicide rates. Lithuania’s male suicide rate especially is an unusually large number: 47.1
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7. Equatorial Guinea
Suicide rate per 100,000 population: 26.6
Equatorial Guinea has had various issues with human rights violations as well, with human trafficking being a particularly significant problem.
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6. Suriname
Suicide rate per 100,000 population: 26.9
Located in South America, Suriname has a male suicide rate of 41.6, while a female one of 12.6.
5. Côte d’Ivoire
Suicide rate per 100,000 population: 27.2
Commonly known as the Ivory Coast, Côte d’Ivoire is an African nation, whose suicide rates show no signs of mitigating as they have been increasing steadily over the years.
4. Kazakhstan
Suicide rate per 100,000 population: 27.5
The largest of the former Soviet republics excluding Russia of course, Kazakhstan resides in Asia with a huge male suicide rate of 48.1.
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3. Mongolia
Suicide rate per 100,000 population: 28.1
With Mongolia, we kick off our top 3 countries with the highest suicide rates in the world. Though Mongolia has a huge suicide rate, it has actually decreased from 32.9 in 2010 to the number you see above.
2. Guyana
Suicide rate per 100,000 population: 30.6
Guyana may have been beaten to the number one spot, but it tops the list for the highest female suicide rate in the world with 15.5 females out of 100,000 committing suicide; a number which admittedly seems pretty tame compared to the huge male suicide rates we have seen all throughout these countries. So, what country is most suicidal?
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1. Sri Lanka
Suicide rate per 100,000 population: 34.6
Topping our list of countries with the highest suicide rates in the world is Sri Lanka and if you think its overall suicide rate is bad, think again. This rate for males in the country is a whopping 58.8, a huge jump from the second highest which is 48.2 in Mongolia.
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