Suicide deaths in the EU fell slightly in 2023 and are below levels a decade ago. Three in four victims are men. In Spain, figures show a fall, as the WHO calls to end stigma.
48,370 people died by suicide in the European Union in 2023, but the mortality rate continues to fall and is now below the level recorded a decade ago.
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This is the picture painted by the latest Eurostat data (source in Spanish), published to coincide with World Suicide Prevention Day, marked every 10 September to raise awareness of this public-health issue, tackle stigma and promote prevention. Suicide accounted for 1% of all deaths recorded in the EU that year. The standardised rate was 10.4 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, compared with 10.6 in 2022 and 12.2 in 2013.
Differences between countries remain large. Lithuania recorded the highest rate in the EU, with 18.8 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by Slovenia (16.4) and Hungary (16.1). The lowest rates were in Cyprus (3.5), Greece (4.3) and Malta (5.5).
Men accounted for 76.4% of all suicide deaths in the EU. The crude rate was 16.9 per 100,000 men, compared with 5 among women. Mortality also increases with age, reaching 17.3 per 100,000 among people aged 65 and over.
Suicides fall for the third year in a row in Spain
The most recent national figures point in the same direction. In 2025, 3,808 people died by suicide in Spain, 3.7% fewer than in 2024, when 3,953 deaths were recorded, according to provisional data from the National Statistics Institute (INE). (source in Spanish)
This is the third consecutive year of decline since the 4,227 deaths recorded in 2022. In 2025, suicide was the third external cause of death in Spain. Among men, however, it was the leading one, with 2,784 deaths.
Spain has an Action Plan for Suicide Prevention 2025–2027, which tackles the issue from a public-health perspective. Its priorities include improving the information available, addressing stigma and the myths surrounding suicide, strengthening early detection and healthcare provision and improving coordination between the different sectors involved.
The plan (source in Spanish) also focuses on awareness-raising and responsible communication, making it easier to access support services and preventing suicide among people and groups in situations of particular vulnerability.
Breaking the stigma, talking and seeking help
The World Health Organization (WHO) is dedicating its World Suicide Prevention Day campaign (source in Spanish) to the slogan "Changing the Narrative on Suicide" ('cambiar la narrativa sobre el suicidio'). In 2026 its call to action is "Start the Conversation" ('iniciar la conversación'), which aims to challenge myths and stigma and encourage people to talk about what is happening to them and seek help.
For the WHO, changing the narrative also means driving changes in public policy, improving access to quality care and implementing evidence-based prevention strategies. The organisation estimates that more than 720,000 people die by suicide every year worldwide. Seventy-three per cent of these deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, and suicide is the third leading cause of death among people aged 15 to 29 globally.
The WHO stresses that asking someone directly whether they are thinking about suicide does not increase the risk and can help them feel understood.
