State's suicide rate is 9th highest among EU countries

The overall suicide rate in Ireland of roughly 12 suicide deaths per 100,000 people is by no means exceptional by international standards. According to the latest World Health Organisation (WHO) figures, it puts Ireland ninth in the European Union rankings, and 37th of 87 countries surveyed by the UN body.

What meagre comfort this might bring, however, is dissipated when male suicide rates are taken in isolation.

Among men aged 25-34, Ireland has the second-highest suicide rate in the European Union, with 34.6 suicides per 100,000 in 1996. Only Finland had a higher proportion of such deaths. In the same year Ireland had 25.4 suicides per 100,000 among men aged 15-24, giving it the third-highest ranking in that category for Europe by the WHO.

Ireland also has the second-highest male-female suicide ratio in the EU, with 5.5 male suicides to one female. Only Greece, with a female suicide rate of just one death per 100,000, has a lower ratio.

The WHO figures are far from perfect as, due to difficulties in collating data, different base years are selected for different countries (1996 is chosen for Ireland as the last census took place then). The figures do, however, give an indication of how Ireland's recent experience in the area differs from that of its neighbouring countries.

Between 1955 to 1995 the overall suicide rate here rose fivefold from 3.7 to 17.9 per 100,000 people. The Netherlands saw the next-biggest rise in the EU, with suicide rates increasing by about three-quarters over the same 40-year period. Rates fell in Denmark and Portugal.

The recent surge in suicides among young men has brought Ireland closer to the norm for northern and western Europe, where suicide rates are highest for young men and older people. Southern and Mediterranean Europe tend to have lower rates of suicide in all categories, while the world's highest rates are found in eastern Europe.

According to the WHO, Lithuania, with an overall suicide rate of 44 per 100,000, and a male suicide rate of 71.1 cases per 100,000 in 1997, has the highest incidence of suicide per capita in the world. It is followed by Russia (37.7 cases per 100,000 overall) and Belarus (35 cases per 100,000).

In only three countries - Kuwait, Sao Tome and China - do female suicides per capita outnumber those for men.

In total, at least one million people throughout the world kill themselves each year, according to the WHO. This means one suicide every 40 seconds.

Within the EU, about 43,000 people die by suicide each year, and more than 700,000 attempt suicide.

Partly in response to growing concern about suicide rates, the WHO is devoting its annual World Health Report this year to mental health.