Researchers have said that the 2008 global economic crisis may be to blame for a rise in suicide rates across the Americas and Europe, particularly in males, according to a study published in the BMJ.
The data comes from the World Health Organization (WHO) mortality database, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the International Monetary Fund's World Economic Outlook database.
Researchers from the Universities of Hong Kong, Oxford and Bristol assessed the changes in suicide rates of 54 countries since the 2008 economic crisis.
In 2008, the International Labour Organization - an agency of the United Nations - estimated that by 2009, the number of unemployed people worldwide would reach around 212 million as a result of the crisis. This is an increase of 34 million, compared with 2007.
The WHO raised concerns about how this would impact global health, calling for action to monitor and protect health, particularly in the poor and vulnerable.
Therefore, unemployment rates were used as the main economic indicator in the study to determine whether there was a significant link to suicide rates.
Starting from the year 2000, the researchers estimated the number of suicide rates using former suicide trends. However, the main analysis focused on "excess" suicide rates in 2009, after the economic crisis hit.
The researchers divided the data into different age categories to determine whether the impact of the crisis varied. These were:
- 15 - 24 (just entering labor market)
- 25 - 44 (early years of employment)
- 45 - 64 (later employment)
- 65 and over (post retirement).
Significant increase in male suicide rates
The data showed that in 2009, there was a 37% rise in unemployment and a 3% decrease in GDP per capita. The researchers said this reflects the onset of the economic crisis. Europe experienced rises in unemployment rates in 2009/10, while the US and Canada saw increases in unemployment from 2008, which rose dramatically in 2009/10.
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