America has the highest suicide rate of any nation in the West, data shows.
The US has a suicide rate every 20 minutes (14.5 per 100,000 people), making it 31st in the world and much more than developed countries such as France (9.7), Spain (5.3) and Sweden (12, 4).
The United Kingdom, for example, ranks only 116 out of 183 countries, according to the aggregated figures Through Our world in databased on 2019 data from the World Health Organization (WHO).
The impoverished African country of Lesotho topped the list, with a suicide rate of 87.5 per 100,000 people. The second highest country, Guyana, in South America, had less than half that rate, at 40.9, challenging the perception that suicide is only a scourge in wealthy countries.
Scroll down for the full list of countries
Lesotho had the highest suicide rate per 100,000 people in 2019, nearly twice the rate of the second highest country, Guyana. Meanwhile, the US and UK ranked 31 and 116 out of 183, respectively
The high level of gun violence and mental illness is believed to be the reason America is an outlier when it comes to suicides.
By 2021, firearms were responsible for 55 percent of all suicide deaths in America.
A 2019 Boston University study found that for every 10 percent increase in gun ownership in a given state, youth suicide rates rise by nearly 27 percent.
Health experts also said the economic and widespread psychological fallout from the pandemic has taken a huge toll on Americans’ mental health.
Loneliness was recently declared an epidemic in the US, with the US Surgeon General warning that it is as dangerous as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
That, plus the financial loss inflicted on millions of Americans, has increased rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide.
Nearly 48,200 people took their own lives in 2021, up from about 46,000 in 2020 and 47,511 deaths in 2019, before the pandemic.
The top-scoring continent was Africa. According to the United Nations, this is due to insufficient action to address and prevent risk factors such as mental illness, which currently affect 116 million people on the continent. This is more than double the 53 million in 1990.
The US ranks 31st out of 183 countries, with 14.5 suicides per 100,000 people per year. Meanwhile, the UK didn’t even make the top 100. It was ranked 116, with 6.9 suicides per 100,000 people.
Every year, more than 700,000 people worldwide die by suicide World Health Organisation. It is also the fourth leading cause of death among people aged 15 to 29.
The WHO estimates that 77 percent of global suicides occur in low- and middle-income countries, refuting the common misconception that suicide is only a problem in wealthy countries where people don’t have to worry about survival or food.
The most common methods of suicide are pesticide ingestion, hanging, and guns.
Data from Our World in Data and the World Health Organization found that the US ranks 31st out of 183 countries for the highest suicide rates. Although it scored better than developed countries, recent figures show that these percentages are rising
The 2019 Global Burden of Disease Report, published by the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), found that the US had nearly four times the number of gun suicides as the next closest country, India
Men are more than twice as likely to commit suicide as womenfigures suggest, and the strongest risk factor is a previous attempt, according to the WHO, as well as suffering from mental health disorders and alcohol use.
Lesotho topped the world list, with a suicide rate of 87.5 per 100,000 people.
Lesotho is a kingdom bordering South Africa. It consists largely of highlands and many villages can only be reached by horseback, foot or small plane.
This percentage is more than double that of the next highest nation, Guyana. And according to the Center for Disease Control and Preventionthe country’s life expectancy in 2020 was only 54.8 years.
Lesotho is also one of the few countries where more women commit suicide than men. This is according to figures from 2019 World Bankthe rate in women was 30.1 in 100,000.
High violence rates may be a reason for this. According to UNAIDSone in three women and girls in the country was abused by an intimate partner in 2020.
Lesotho also has one of the highest HIV prevalence rates in the world. It is estimated that one in five adults lives with the condition, according to the CDCand in 2021, 4,000 people over the age of 15 will die of AIDS. As a result, approximately 110,000 children have been orphaned.
Women also experience this at higher rates. 2019, 190,000 women more than 15 had HIV, compared to 130,000 men.
High rates of illness and limited access to health care can drive up Lesotho’s suicide rates.
The US ranked 31st, with a suicide rate of 14.5 per 100,000 people.
According to a report from the CDC, the suicide rate increased by four percent between 2020 and 2021.
Nearly 48,200 people took their own lives in 2021, up from about 46,000 in 2020 and 47,511 deaths in 2019, before the pandemic. This is one death every 11 minutes.
Suicide is now the 11th leading cause of death in the US, compared to 2020 when it was the 12th leading cause of death. It is also the second leading cause of death among people aged 10 to 34.
The US has long been under fire for the growing number of gun deaths, which could be contributing to the suicide rate.
A 2022 study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that the US had a record 45,222 gun deaths in 2020 and gun suicides increased by one percent.
Data from the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) Global burden of disease report found that in 2019, the US had nearly four times the number of gun-related suicides as the second highest country, India.
The United Kingdom, meanwhile, fell closer to the bottom half of the list, ranking 116 out of 183 countries. The country had a suicide rate of 6.9 per 100,000 people in 2019.
According to figures from the Office of National Statistics, men in the UK were significantly more likely to commit suicide than women
That number increased after the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the Bureau of National Statistics (US). That’s about 10.7 deaths per 100,000 people.
About three-quarters of the suicides were male, which equates to about 16 deaths per 100,000. Women accounted for 5.5 out of 100,000.
Research of crisis organization Samaritans suggests that men in the UK are more likely than women to commit suicide because of a gendered stigma surrounding mental health. Seeking help is perceived as weak or feminine, making men less likely to find support for suicidal thoughts.
ONS lists the main methods as hanging, strangulation and suffocation, which together accounted for about 58 percent of all recorded suicide deaths. About 20.5 percent of those deaths were from poisoning.
Barbados is at the bottom of the list, with only 0.3 suicides per 100,000 people. The island’s more relaxed lifestyle and year-round warm weather can boost mental health and lead to these low suicide rates.