Japan has long been associated with the practice of suicide – however, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that the number of Japanese people who kill themselves hit a nine-year low last year., according to police data. In 2010, the number of suicides dropped by 3.5 percent to 31.960 – the thirteenth year in a row that the figure topped 30,000. Prime Minister Naoto Kan has called the public’s attention to this phenomenon and said he is determined to put an end self-killing. Still, according to data from WHO, Japan has the world’s eighth suicide rate – indeed, the top ten countries in this grim list is dominated by former Soviet republics. In every single country that WHO surveyed, the suicide rate for men is far higher than that of men. Here are the ten countries with the highest suicide rates (per 100,000 people):
In Korea, of those nearly 44 people who kill themselves every year, an astounding 14 are women (among the highest level by global standards). For males, it's about 30 per 100,000.ReutersGuyana has by far the highest suicide rate among countries in the Caribbean. Indeed, most nations in the region have very low suicide rates, making Guyana somewhat of an anomaly. Of the more than 45 people who kill themselves, about one-fourth are women. The former British colony is evenly divided between people of African and East Indian descent.Guyanafriends.comLike many nations of the Soviet Union, Ukraine is scarred by both a high suicide rate and high incidences of alcoholism. Suicide in the Ukraine is overwhelmingly a male phenomenon (41 of the 48 people).ReutersJapan had traditionally has high rates of suicide. In recent years, the rate among youth has been rising due to the weakening economy. About one-fourth (14) of suicides involve women.ReutersThe land which gave us the famous song "Gloomy Sunday" has traditionally suffered from high suicide rates. ReutersThe Central Asian republic of Kazakhstan has one of the highest suicide rates in the world. Again, suicides here are dominated by men doing away with themselves.ReutersA surprisingly high figure for a South Asian country. Suicides in Sri Lanka may have been exacerbated by years of civil war between the Tamils and Sinhalese, as well as by the devastating tsunami of 2005.ReutersNot only does Russia suffer from high rates of alcoholism and mental illness, but an alarming number of people there kill themselves every year. As in most Eastern European societies, suicide is largely committed by men.ReutersSimilar to Russia (which it was formerly a part of), the Baltic nation of Lithuania has an enormous high rate of suicide. Recent economic woes arising from the 2008 global crisis may have exacerbated the number of self-killings.ReutersThe former Soviet republic located between Poland and Russia has the ignominious status as the world's top place for committing suicide. Almost 90 percent of the suicides here are performed by men.Reuters
