Suicide in Switzerland

Switzerland had a standardised suicide rate of 10.7 per 100,000 (male 15.5, female 6.0) as of 2015. The actual (non-standardised) rate was 12.5 (male 18.5, female 6.6) in 2014.

The 2015 Swiss suicide rate of 10.7 (male 15.5, female 6.0) published by the World Health Organisation is "age-standardised", attempting to control for differences in age structure for the purposes of international comparison. The standardised Swiss suicide rate is similar to the rates of neighbouring France (12.7; male 19.0, female 5.9), Austria (11.7; male 18.5, female 5.3) and Germany (9.1; male 14.5, female 4.5). It is somewhat below the European average of 11.93, and close to the global average of 10.67.

The raw (non-standardised) Swiss suicide rate is somewhat higher; in 2014, 1,029 people committed non-assisted suicide (754 men, 275 women), for a rate of 12.5 per 100,000 (18.5 male, 6.6 female). Not included are 742 assisted suicides (320 men, 422 women); most of the assisted suicides concerned elderly people suffering from a terminal disease.

The Swiss statistics of causes of death by years of potential life lost (YPLL) as of 2014 estimates suicides at 12,323 YPLL for men (12% of YPLL from all causes of death) and 4,750 YPLL for women (8% of YPLL from all causes of death). Standardised rates of YPLL per 100,000 people relative to the 2010 European standard population (Eurostat 2013) are 327.0 for men (29 hours per capita) and 128.6 (11 hours per capita) for women.

The suicide rate has declined steadily during the 1980s to 2000s, down from 25 in the mid 1980s. Since ca. 2010, the downward trend as stopped and there has been no further significant reduction in suicide rates. The peak in the 1980s was preceded by a historically low rate of 17 in the 1960s. The male-to-female gender ratio has been reduced from 6:1 in the late 19th century to about 2.5:1 today. In 1881, male suicide rate was at 42, close to 2.5 times the modern value, while female suicide rate was at 7, comparable to the modern value.

The Swiss cantons with the highest suicide rates for the period 2001–2010 were Appenzell Ausserrhoden for men (37) and canton of Schaffhausen for women (10); the canton with the lowest suicide rate was Italian-speaking Ticino (male 14, female 5), consistent with lower rates in southern Europe, but still notably higher than the rate in neighbouring Italy (at 5.4 as of 2015).

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