WHO publish report of suicide rate in 2012

World Health Organization (WHO) published estimated suicide rates in all the countries in 2012. This is the first official report by WHO to prevent suicide.

WHO: First WHO report on suicide prevention

Actually, WHO has been gathering data about suicide continuously. This is a graph in 2012 referring a part of data by WHO.

The approximated trend has not changed from the past. Korea, Russia, and Japan are suicide rich countries.

My past entry: Suicide in Japan

Suicide in Greece seemed to be reduced a little in 2012, although I was afraid that Greece was suffering from financial crisis.

My past entry: Suicide in Greece

Interpretation about the statistics of suicide is quite difficult because it contains many factors such as mental health, economy, religion, and other environmental ones.

To begin with, it is not certain if this data in Demographic People's Republic of Korea and some other countries is reliable. In some developing countries, many people are killed by infectious diseases before suicidal events occur. Therefore, it is not concluded that citizens are happier in low rates of suicide. It is also interesting that suicide is relatively frequent in Bhutan, which emphasize Gross Domestic Happiness (GDH). Whether any regional conflicts can inflict suicide is not certain in this data.

Women are more resistant to suicide compared to men, regardless of regions. It is surprising that women are more likely to commit suicide than men in China. Gender Inequality Index in China is not so bad, according to Human Development Reports by the United Nation. Perhaps the high rate of female suicide is due to some specific cultural factors.

Anyway, there is a strict fact that more than 800,000 people killed themselves in a year. It is quite, absolutely  serious.