The number of suicides has been increasing for a number of years. In 2016, 1,894 people in the Netherlands ended their lives, 23 more than in 2015. This is an average of 5.2 suicides per day (source). There are around 1 000 000 people worldwide who commit suicide. This means that every 32 seconds a new victim has been killed.

More than 400,000 Dutch people feel so depressed and depressed that they think of suicide. Every year about 100 000 adults in the Netherlands try to commit suicide. More than 1.5 percent of this ‘succeeds’.  Some 9,200 Dutch people end up in hospital after a failed attempt. But these are only the cases that are ‘visible’. Of many attempts we don’t even know that it was there.

Summery

There are relatively few suicide victims in the Netherlands compared to other European countries.
In absolute numbers, there are more than 1,800 suicides per year in the Netherlands.
8.3% of adults have ever thought of suicide.
2.2% of adults have ever attempted suicide.
The exact number of suicide attempts per year is not known, but is estimated at 94,000.
Every year, at least 14,000 attempts are treated in the hospital.
Men commit suicide more often than women.
On average, women do more suicide attempts than men.

Financial crisis

There would be a relationship between the financial crisis in 2008 and an increase in the number of suicides. International research shows that suicide can be linked to economic recession. But despite this, the Netherlands has a relatively low number of suicides compared to neighbouring countries.

Four out of ten suicides take place in middle age. In 2016, there were 5% fewer suicides in this age group, between the ages of 40 and 60, than in the previous year. In particular, suicides were more common among people aged 60 and over. The number of suicides in this age group has increased since 2012, to 647 in 2016. Of all people who commit suicide, one-third are aged 60 or over. In both 2015 and 2016, 48 young people under the age of 20 killed themselves.

Suicide thoughts

The Trimbos Institute does a lot of research into depression and suicidal thoughts. Their research shows that women and people with a primary school education are more likely to develop suicidal thoughts than men and people with a higher level of education. There is a strong link with childhood trauma and previous mental illnesses. Abuse and ill-treatment increase the chance of developing suicidal thoughts four to five times (source).

More figures and facts about suicide can be found on the website of 113online.nl