Many countries do not collect or publish national data on suicides, especially poorer countries.
Around 60% of high-income countries have shared data on annual suicide rates in a given year with the World Health Organization, but less than 20% of lower-middle-income countries do, and no low-income countries have done so since 2011.
This lack of data is partly due to an absence of vital registries — where death certificates are collected — and coroners, doctors, and legal systems to determine and record causes of death across the population.
Without this data, statistical organizations estimate suicide rates based on other data, such as surveys and data from similar countries. This is challenging because suicide is highly stigmatized in many countries and sometimes even criminalized.
The chart also shows that more countries have improved their data collection and reporting systems. With more effort to improve vital registries, we will gain a greater understanding of where and why suicides occur, who is at risk, and how to prevent this tragic cause of death.
