Global suicide rate has fallen by 40% since 1995

One person dies by suicide every 43 seconds somewhere in the world. That figure, drawn from the most comprehensive analysis of global suicide data ever published, is sobering. But the same research contains a fact that rarely gets equal attention: the global suicide rate has fallen by nearly 40% since 1990, from 15 deaths per 100,000 people to nine — driven by evidence-based interventions that governments and communities deliberately chose to deploy.

• A landmark study published in The Lancet Public Health in February 2025 by researchers at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington found that the global age-standardized suicide mortality rate fell 40% between 1990 and 2021.
• The decline was faster among women than men — suicide rates among females dropped more than 50% globally, compared to 34% for males, over the same period.
• East Asia recorded the largest regional improvement, with a 66% decline in suicide mortality rates since 1990 — a reduction driven in significant part by targeted policy interventions including restrictions on access to toxic pesticides.

The analysis, part of the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021, covered 204 countries and territories and represents the most detailed picture of global suicide trends ever assembled. Its core message — that population-level suicide rates are not fixed, and that deliberate action changes them — has direct implications for how governments and health systems approach prevention.

What actually drove three decades of progress

The 40% global decline did not happen by accident. Researchers point to several categories of intervention that moved the numbers.

Restricting access to highly toxic pesticides — one of the most common means of suicide in rural low- and middle-income countries — is among the most well-documented. In rural China, removing highly toxic pesticides from widespread availability contributed significantly to the country’s dramatic decline. China’s fall drove much of East Asia’s 66% regional improvement, and the mechanism was straightforward: reducing access to lethal means saves lives in the critical window when someone is most at risk. Our World in Data researcher Hannah Ritchie has documented this intervention in detail, calling pesticide bans one of the most cost-effective suicide prevention tools available to lower-income governments.

Western Europe reduced its rate by more than 40% over the same period. That decline reflects a combination of expanded mental health services, reduced stigma, national suicide prevention strategies, and improved crisis response infrastructure. Central Europe saw nearly identical gains.

The mean age at which people die by suicide also rose over the period — from 43 to 47 for men, and from roughly 42 to nearly 47 for women — a pattern researchers attribute partly to prevention efforts that specifically targeted younger populations, including school-based mental health programs and expanded screening services for adolescents.

Why the remaining toll still demands attention

The progress is real. So are the gaps. Approximately 740,000 people still die by suicide each year globally — more than one death every minute. Suicide remains among the top 20 leading causes of death for men and among the top 30 for women worldwide.

The gains are also uneven. Four regions saw suicide rates increase during the same period that the global rate was falling. Central Latin America recorded a 39% rise. High-income North America — including the United States — saw a 7% increase. Mexico recorded a 123% increase in female suicide mortality rates alone during the study period, driven by social factors including family violence, poverty, and limited mental health access.

Men continue to die by suicide at more than twice the rate of women globally. Researchers attribute this in part to differences in method — men are more likely to use firearms and other highly lethal means, while women more often choose methods with higher survival rates. The United States recorded the highest firearm-related suicide rate of any country in the study.

Older adults represent another growing area of concern. The highest suicide mortality rates globally occur among adults 70 and older, according to the Lancet analysis. Social isolation, chronic illness, inadequate insurance, and limited mental health resources all contribute to elevated risk in this age group — factors that are increasing in many countries as populations age.

What the data tells us about what works next

The most important finding of the IHME analysis may be what it implies about the future. The variation between countries — some with rates below two per 100,000, others above 20 — is too large to be explained by biology or culture alone. It reflects differences in what governments have chosen to fund, restrict, build, and prioritize.

Senior study author Dr. Mohsen Naghavi of IHME identified two priorities as particularly critical going forward: reducing stigma around mental health, and removing barriers to mental health support — especially for people with mental health and substance use conditions, who face significantly elevated risk. A separate Our World in Data analysis published in 2025 found that government mental health spending in low-income countries averages just $0.04 per person per year, compared to $66 in high-income countries — a gap that shapes access to care for hundreds of millions of people.

The 40% drop since 1990 is evidence that these investments produce results. It is also a reminder of how much further that progress can extend if the lessons from the countries and regions that have made the most gains are taken seriously and scaled.

This story was originally reported by Our World in Data.