Suicide rates remained flat in the Netherlands in first year of pandemic

Some 1,825 people in the Netherlands ended their own lives last year, an average of five a day. It equaled 14.2 total suicides per 100 thousand residents, the same as in 2019, and about three percent higher than in 2018. There was a slight increase in per capita suicides among women, but men were still far more likely to commit suicide, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reported on Wednesday.

Some 1,229 men and 596 women in the Netherlands took their own lives last year. "Since the beginning of the nineties, twice as many men as women die from suicide. The number of people who die is highest among men in their fifties, both men and women", CBS also stated.

Just like the last two years, the highest number of people who committed suicide were in their fifties. The CBS said 408 people in their fifties ended their lives, over 22 percent of the overall total.

The demographic with the fewest number of suicides were people aged 10 to 20, a figure which dropped to 62 from 67 in 2019. The number of suicides among young men and boys decreased from 43 to 35, while among young women and girls it increased from 24 to 27.

According to the statistics office, the per capita rate of suicide has remained stable over the past three years. The peak during the past fifty years was recorded in 1984 at 18.5 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants. That same year was the highest rate of male suicide, 14.7. A year earlier represented the highest rate of female suicide, at 11.3 per capita.

On a global level, suicide rates also remained stable or even declined during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic, NBC News reported last week.