Suicide in the Americas: Regional report 2021

Overview

Suicide prevention is considered a public health priority in the Region of the Americas, where in 2021, there were approximately 100 760 deaths by suicide. Despite international goals to reduce the suicide mortality rate globally, when the World Health Organization (WHO) released the Global Health Estimates for 2019, it was found that the Region of the Americas was the only WHO region in which the rate was increasing. Although suicide is a complex phenomenon, it is largely preventable, including through the development and implementation of comprehensive national suicide prevention strategies. In order to prevent suicides, existing patterns and trends must be understood. Regular monitoring of suicide mortality rates, including their distributions and how they vary by demographic, is imperative to allow for informed decision-making and effective resource allocation for suicide prevention. This report, the fifth in a series of regional reports on suicide mortality in the Americas, is intended to provide the most up-to-date epidemiological data on suicide for all countries and subregions in the Region, using suicide mortality estimates from the WHO Global Health Estimates 2000–2021. Descriptive statistics were performed to quantitatively describe the number of suicides and the suicide mortality rate, as well as the rate of DALYs for suicide, by country, subregion, and Region for 2021. In addition to these descriptive statistics, the incidence-mortality ratio, percentage change in the suicide mortality rate over time (from 2000 to 2021, and from 2010 to 2021), and the mean age at the time of death by suicide over time were computed.