Prevalence and statistics of suicides in different countries of the world

The study of the prevalence and statistics of suicides in various regions and countries of the world has attracted increasing attention in recent years by suicidologists. In scientific terms, it is much more accurate to compare the frequency of completed suicides, since the registration and registration of suicidal attempts are carried out in the world in different ways and nowhere claim to the absolute completeness of coverage of such cases.

According to the WHO materials presented in the World Health Report 2001, the age-standardized prevalence of completed suicides, accepted as the average for 53 countries with all the necessary data, is 15.1 per 100 population per year. At the same time, the suicide rate for men is 24, and for women - 6.8 per 100,000. Thus, the ratio of men and women who commit suicide is 3.5: 1.

Suicides pertain to the three leading causes of mortality in the age group of 15 to 34 years, which is characteristic of both sexes [WHO, 2001]. Comparison of the place of suicide in the structure of the mortality of this age group in European countries and China showed that in Europe suicide as the cause of death ranks second (after transport accidents) in the general population and among men and third place (after oncological diseases and transport accidents ) - among women. In China, the picture looks somewhat different: in the age group of 15 to 34 years, suicides take the first place among the causes of death in women and in the general population, and third place in men. Thus, despite some differences, both Western and Eastern societies lose people of the most productive age.

Given that the suicide rate is one of the most important and objective indicators of the country's social condition, public mental health and the quality of life of the population, the WHO has adopted a scale for assessing the magnitude of this indicator. Within this scale, there are three levels of suicide rates: low - up to 10 cases per 100 LLC population; the average is 10-20; high, or "critical", - more than 20 cases.

The most suicidologically successful group with a low suicide rate, not exceeding 10 per 100 000 population, is the countries of southern Europe (Italy, Spain, Greece, Albania), the British states (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland); Holland, Norway and Ireland, as well as most countries of the African continent. The lowest figures for the frequency of suicide (0-5 per 100 000) are determined in the countries of the Arab East, in particular in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, and Bahrain.

Prevalence of suicides in various countries of the world

The level of suicide	Frequency (per 100 000 population)	Countries
Low	0-10	The countries of the Arab East (Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Bahrain, etc.) Most African countries The countries of Southern Europe (Italy, Spain, Greece, Albania) The British states (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland) The Netherlands, Norway, Ireland
Average	10-20	USA, Israel, Australia Southeast Asian countries (Hong Kong, China, South Korea, Singapore, Japan) Some European countries (Belgium, Bulgaria, Poland, Portugal, France)
Tall	20 and more	Countries of Eastern Europe (Russia, Ukraine, Hungary) Baltic countries (Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia) Scandinavian countries (Finland, Sweden, Denmark) Countries of Central Europe (Germany, Austria, Switzerland)

The group with an average prevalence of suicides includes the USA - 11.7 per 100 000 population, a number of European countries (Belgium, France, Portugal, Bulgaria, Poland), a significant part of Asian countries (including Japan, China, Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong ), and

Israel and Australia. In most of these countries, the level of suicide varies between 13-15 per 100 000 population.

Countries with a high level of suicide include some Eastern European states, including Russia; the Baltic countries, Scandinavian countries, as well as Austria, Germany and Switzerland. According to the well-known Hungarian suicidologist Z.Rihmer (2002), in recent years, the Baltic countries (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia), Russia, Hungary, Denmark and the Baltic States are on the first positions in the world rating of the suicide rate - 35 or more cases per 100 000 population Finland.

Naturally, such a wide range of indicators requires a scientific interpretation of differences in the frequency of suicides in the world, so it is logical to proceed to an analysis of existing points of view on the causes of this phenomenon.

First of all, it should be noted that it is not possible to find this or that universal explanation for differences in the incidence of suicides in different countries of the world, which once again confirms the complex and multifactorial nature of suicidal behavior. In addition, attention should be drawn to WHO's indication that even in countries with stable rates of suicide prevalence, these data can mask important differences that affect individual segments of society. In particular, the suicide rate in Australia, Chile, Japan, Spain, and Cuba, stable in recent years, hides their growth in men due to a decrease in the corresponding indicator for women.

Most often, the differences in suicide rates are linked to the socioeconomic state of society, implying that during periods of social depression and crisis, the incidence of suicide is increasing.

Social and economic crises traditionally attract the attention of scientists from different countries to the search for a link between unemployment and suicide. Such correlations were found in Japan during the "oil" crisis of 1973, in Mexico during the economic crisis of 1995, and also in developing countries with an unstable economy, for example, in Trinidad and Tobago. A high incidence of suicide is registered in Canada among low-income people living in poverty; in similar social strata of the population of Western Europe, especially in English-speaking countries, in Germany, Norway.

The closest relationship between unemployment and the number of suicides was found in the United States, where in the years of great depression, the level of suicides increased 1.5 times, and at its end it decreased to its initial values. There is also information that during the general crisis associated with the Second World War, the incidence of suicides in Japan decreased more than 2 times, and after the war quickly returned to its original level.

Traditionally, factors such as high alcohol consumption (Russia, the Baltic States), simplified access to toxic substances (China, India, Sri Lanka), free arms sales (USA, El Salvador) are traditionally considered as factors contributing to the incidence of suicides. It is clear that these factors are only one of the many components in the circle of causes of suicidal behavior.

Of course, the prevalence of suicides is also affected by the prevalence of mental illnesses. This aspect of the problem will be considered in a separate section of this chapter.

The lack of sufficiently convincing explanations about the existing differences in the incidence of suicides in different countries of the world prompted us to pay special attention to a complex of factors connected with the ethno-cultural characteristics of peoples. An example is Japan with its traditional forms of suicide ("hara-kiri", "kamikaze", etc.), which were not subject to social taboos. In a somewhat modified form, this tradition has survived in modern Japan, where, according to K.Tatai (1971) and K.Ohara (1971), more than 4% of all suicides occupy "shinju" (paired suicides). Of these, 60% are "suicide-contracts" between lovers who have obstacles on their way to marriage, and 40% "family buses" - joint suicides of parents (more often mothers) and children.

Racial characteristics of suicides were studied in depth in the United States. J. Green and E. Christian (1977) found that the level of suicides among African Americans is 3 times lower than among the white population of the country. These data were confirmed by A.Copeland (1989) on materials from the state of Florida. In addition, according to G.Gowitt (1986), blacks in the state of Georgia, in contrast to white, do not tend to increase the number of suicides. In white Americans, the incidence of suicide is higher than in Latin America and Puerto Ricans living in the country. Thus, most American authors note a high susceptibility to the suicidal behavior of the white population of the country. For the sake of justice, it should be noted that in the literature one can also find statements about the absence of the influence of ethno-cultural factors on the prevalence of suicides, but this opinion is not supported by the majority of suicidologists.

An attempt was made to analyze the most well-known factors with which the prevalence of suicides in different countries of the world is related.

[1], [2], [3], [4], [5],

Geographical factor

The region of the highest suicide rate is Europe. In all other parts of the world, countries with high (according to WHO criteria) levels of suicide are absent.

Socio-economic factor

The connection of the frequency of suicide with the socio-economic state of the country, of course, exists. However, its peculiarity is that it does not reflect the level of the state's socioeconomic development proper, but rather one or other crisis situation in the society, characterized by political, social and economic shocks. This is confirmed, on the one hand, by the high prevalence of suicides in a number of highly developed and stable countries, on the other - the high incidence of suicides in Russia and other former socialist countries experiencing problems in the transition period.

Suicide statistics and religious factor

All the major world religions (Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism) contain a negative attitude towards suicide, regarding it as a religiously forbidden act that draws the judgment of God and the people. In accordance with this, suicides were not buried in the church and were not buried near other people (Christianity), they did not perform burial before sunset (Islam).

Realizing that even the most rigid religious institutions are not capable of completely preventing suicides, the question arises: what are the reasons for the differences in their frequency among representatives of different faiths? In our opinion, the answer to this question reflects the forms of people's religious behavior that have developed to date in different nations and cultures, i.e. The peculiarities of their following religious canons and requirements.

Let's start with Islam, which denies even the very possibility of an attempt by an orthodox Muslim to his life. The Qur'an commits believing Muslims to bear all the burdens sent down by Allah, and even the thought of the possibility of escaping these hardships with the help of suicide is the top of blasphemy. In Islamic countries, atheism is virtually non-existent, and sacred demands are met with the utmost orthodoxy, so the suicide rate there is extremely low.

A similar situation is observed in people with the Jewish faith. In this confessional group, suicides are a rarity. The average (according to the WHO criteria) level of suicide rates in Israel is due to the large proportion of people from different countries who do not share the ideas of Judaism.

In countries of the Christian world, the frequency of suicides depends, on the one hand, on the proportion of atheists and "conditionally believers", i.e. Persons who do not fulfill established religious functions, but only those who are guided by some of the Christian commandments chosen by themselves. On the other hand, the level of suicides to some extent depends on the dominant direction of the Christian religion. Comparison of these parameters indicates a higher level of suicides in countries where Protestantism occupies a leading position, somewhat lower in Catholic countries and even lower in Orthodox religiously-based states. Such a distribution correlates with the degree of orthodoxy required from believers in observing the canons: the maximum - for Orthodox and most flexible - for Protestants.

In general, none of the analyzed factors can adequately explain the differences in the prevalence of suicides in the world. This prompted us to continue the search and pay attention to one more factor - ethno-cultural.

Analysis of the ethnicity of the peoples with the highest incidence of suicides showed that, despite all the differences between them in geographical, socio-economic and religious relations, they represent only three ethnic groups: Finno-Ugric, Baltic and German.

So, the Finno-Ugric group includes Finns, Hungarians, Estonians, as well as Finno-Ugric peoples of Russia - Mordva, Udmurt, Komi, Mari, Karelians, Khanty, Mansi. The Baltic ethnic group is represented by Latvians and Lithuanians, Germanic by Germans, Austrians, Swiss (German-speaking), Danes and Swedes.

Thus, the analysis of various factors influencing the prevalence of suicides in the world showed that only the ethno-cultural affiliation of the population forms a sufficiently clear and consistent connection with the level of suicide rates. Therefore, it can be said with sufficient accuracy that suicide is an ethno-cultural-dependent phenomenon. Therefore, knowledge and consideration of ethnocultural factors are of great importance both for studies in the field of suicidology, and in practical activities for the prevention of suicide. As already noted, information on the incidence of suicides in Russia has been selectively published in the open press only since 1988, so when analyzing the prevalence of suicides in the country, we can operate on indicators that have been counted since 1990. At the same time, this period represents the greatest interest in terms of the relationship between the social situation in the country and the number of suicides committed, since radical changes took place in all areas of the country's life in the 1990s, which for most of the population had the character of a mass stress.