The latest figures show that suicide kills more than 700,000 people worldwide.
The data shows that the global suicide rate has been on a downward trend over the past two decades, although self-harm remains the leading cause of death worldwide.
According to the Global Burden of Disease Study, more than 750,000 people died by suicide worldwide in 2019, with the World Health Organization calling suicide the fourth leading cause of death among young people between 15 and 29. Suicide has been reported as the leading cause of death among people aged 15 to 34 years in at least 17 countries.
The latest estimates provided by the World Health Organization show that the countries with the highest suicide deaths in 2019 were low- and middle-income countries. Six of the 10 countries with the highest suicide rates are located in Africa, including Lesotho, which had the highest suicide rate in 2019.
Notably, the World Health Organization reports that the recent global median government health expenditure on mental health was 2.1%. The agency's data also show that among the countries with the highest suicide rates in 2019, at least a few had mental health workers well below the global median of 13 mental health workers per 100,000 people.
According to World Health Organization estimates, these are the 10 countries with the highest suicide rates in 2019. The figures have been age-adjusted to account for differences in population profiles across countries.
10. Central African Republic
Suicide rate: 22.96 per 100,000 people
According to WHO, the Central African Republic ranked tenth overall for suicide in 2019, with men more than four times the suicide rate compared to women.
Middle Africa
9. Mozambique
Suicide rate: 23.19 per 100,000 people
According to the World Health Organization, the southern African country of Mozambique has the ninth highest suicide rate. Previous WHO data also indicate that there is about 1 mental health worker per 100,000 people in the country.
Mozambique
8. South Africa
Suicide rate: 23.49 per 100,000 population
According to the World Health Organization, South Africa has the eighth highest overall suicide rate. In a 2021 analysis conducted by the nonprofit Sapien Labs, the country was ranked as one of the worst in mental health out of 34 countries.
South Africa
7. Zimbabwe
Suicide rate: 23.63 per 100,000 people
According to the World Health Organization, Zimbabwe has the seventh highest overall suicide rate. The southern African country recently devoted only 0.4% of its total healthcare budget to mental health, and according to the World Health Organization, it is estimated that the country has only as many as 18 psychiatrists serving a population of about 14 million.
Zimbabwe
6. Suriname
Suicide rate: 25.89 per 100,000 people
According to the World Health Organization, Suriname, a small country on the northeast coast of South America, has the sixth highest suicide rate in the world and the second highest among South American countries.
Suriname
5. Micronesia (Federated States of).
Suicide rate: 28.99 per 100,000 people
According to the World Health Organization, the Federated States of Micronesia has the fifth highest suicide rate. The data also indicates that the island cluster in the Western Pacific region recently had a total of 10 mental health professionals serving more than 113,000 people.
Micronesia (Federated States of).
4. Kiribati
Suicide rate: 30.56 per 100,000 people
According to the World Health Organization, Kiribati had the fourth highest suicide rate in the world in 2019. The government of the island nation of more than 117,000 people in the central Pacific recently spent 5% of its total health budget on mental health, according to the data.
Kiribati
3. Eswatini
Suicide rate: 40.46 per 100,000 people
According to the World Health Organization, Eswatini, a formerly Eswatini country located in Southern Africa, had the third highest overall suicide rate in 2019. The latest WHO data indicate that there are 60 mental health professionals in the country, including a psychiatrist, serving more than 1.1 million people.
Swatini
2. Guyana
Suicide rate: 40.85 per 100,000 population
Bordering Venezuela at the northern tip of South America, Guyana had the second highest suicide rate in the world in 2019 and the highest suicide rate in South America, according to the World Health Organization. The latest data from the World Health Organization shows that about 3% of government health spending goes to mental health, and the country recently had 41 mental health professionals serving a population of more than 782,000.
Guyana
1. Lesotho
Suicide rate: 87.48 per 100,000 people
According to the World Health Organization, Lesotho, a country completely surrounded by South Africa, had the highest suicide rate in the world in 2019. Its rate is more than double that of Guyana, the world's second-ranked country.