Mental Health and Substance Use
Our work involves mental health promotion and the prevention of mental, neurological and substance use disorders. We support the expansion of access to affordable, quality care for everyone who needs it.
Suicide data
Close to 800 000 people die due to suicide every year, which is one person every 40 seconds. Suicide is a global phenomenon and occurs throughout the lifespan. Effective and evidence-based interventions can be implemented at population, sub-population and individual levels to prevent suicide and suicide attempts. There are indications that for each adult who died by suicide there may have been more than 20 others attempting suicide.
Suicide is a global phenomenon; in fact, 79% of suicides occurred in low- and middle-income countries in 2016. Suicide accounted for 1.4% of all deaths worldwide, making it the 18th leading cause of death in 2016.
Latest suicide estimates in the World Health Statistics: Monitoring health for the SDGs
World Health Statistics bring together available data on health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) indicators, including suicide (indicator 3.4.2) estimates from the WHO Global Health Estimates.
Latest suicide estimates: crude, age-standardized, and by age groups
Crude, age-standardized, and age group specific suicide rates for 2016 can be accessed on the mental health Global Health Observatory (GHO) theme page and database.
About WHO Global Health Estimates
The WHO Global Health Estimates provide a comprehensive and comparable assessment of mortality (including suicide) and loss of health due to diseases and injuries for all regions of the world. The latest WHO assessment of deaths by cause is for the years 2000–2016.
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