1,862 people took their own lives in Netherlands last year

Last year, 1,862 people took their own lives in the Netherlands. That averages to over five suicides a day, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reported. The suicide rate is highest above the age of 40 and men are twice as likely as women to take their own lives - 14.7 per 100,000 residents for men and 6.2 per 100,000 for women.

The number of suicides in the Netherlands has stabilized since 2013 and has been 10.4 per 100,000 residents for the past few years. The suicide rate takes population growth and aging into account so that different years can be compared to each other.

Suicide is considerably more common among older people than young people. “From 70 to 90, the older the person, the higher the suicide rate,” CBS said. For years, the figure was highest among people over 80, but since the start of this century, the suicide rate has been highest among 40 to 60-year-olds.

Over the age of 40, the suicide rate has been approximately 14 per 100,000 inhabitants since 2015-2019. Among people in their 20s and 30s, it was 10.6 per 100,000 last year, but it has increased slightly since 2005-2009, especially among people in their 20s.

Although the suicide rate is lower in younger age groups, it is a relatively common cause of death among young people because fewer people die at these ages. Of people in their 20s who died from 2020 to 2023, 31 percent died by suicide. At the beginning of the century, that was 17 percent and 9 percent in the 1970s. In those years, traffic accidents were the most common cause of death for young people between 20 and 30 years.

“This shift can also be seen among teenagers,” CBS said. “While the number of suicides among this group of young people has remained fairly stable over the last 50 years, the share of suicides among the causes of death has increased. This is mainly because far fewer young people die from other causes of death, especially from traffic accidents.” In 2020-2023, 20 percent of teenage deaths were suicides.