‘Promising’ decline in global mortality rate for suicide

LONDON: Global suicide rates have decreased by almost a third in the last three decades, new analysis suggests.

The total number of international deaths from suicide rose by 6.7% between 1990 and 2016 to an estimated 817,000, according to research published in the BMJ journal.

However, the global mortality rate for suicide, when adjusted for age, dropped by 32.7% across this period, from 16.6 deaths per 100,000 to 11.2 deaths per 100,000.

The researchers described the declining rate as ‘‘promising’’.

‘‘Whether the decline in suicide mortality is due to suicide prevention activities, or reflects general improvements to population health, it warrants further research,’’ they said.

The estimated 817,000 suicides is 1.49% of all deaths in 2016, the analysis suggests.

Global mortality rates were higher among men than women across all age groups, except those aged between 15 to 19 years old, according to the analysis.

Suicide accounted for 15.6 deaths per 100,000 globally for men compared with seven per 100,000 for women.

The global agestandardised mortality rate for men decreased by 23.8% across the period, lower than the 49% drop for women, and the researchers warned this difference could continue to widen.

The research used data from the 2016 Global Burden of Disease study to describe patterns of suicide mortality.