Suicide - statistics

-Automatic translation

Worldwide, suicide is among the 20 most common causes of death, with over 720,000 deaths each year, according to the WHO. Over the past decade (2016-2025), the number of suicides in Iceland has been between 34 and 48, an average of 40 per year.

Interpretation of data

The number of suicides in Iceland is low compared to the largest categories of causes of death, and the population is small. Therefore, small changes in numbers can inevitably cause fluctuations in mortality. Because of this, it is essential to interpret individual-year figures with caution, as random fluctuations may occur. To highlight the long-term trend of suicide, it may be more appropriate to use the averages for a few years than the frequency of each year.

How are suicides recorded?

Statistics on causes of death are based on death certificates for individuals who had permanent residence in Iceland at the time of death. Mortality is recorded by death certificates in the Causes of death register and coded according to the latest version and updates of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD). Since 1996, the causes of death have been coded according to the 10th edition of the classification system, ICD-10. The statistics on causes of death are published annually after the registration and coding of the previous year and after quality tests have been completed.

The Directorate of Health publishes annual figures on suicides as recorded in the Causes of death register. Suicides include deaths where the underlying cause is intentional self-harm (registered with ICD-10 code: X60-X84). Deaths for events where the intent is uncertain are not included (ICD-10: Y10-Y34). The underlying cause of death refers to the disease or injury that began the chain of events that led directly to death or the circumstances of an accident or violence that resulted in a fatal injury. The World Health Organization uses this definition for statistical comparisons between countries.

Foreign comparison

Various international organizations undertake the collection and presentation of figures on the causes of death. Iceland is a member of such a partnership and sends, among other things, annual data to the WHO Global Mortality Database. The statistics from this database are accessible in the European Mortality Database, which publishes the mortality rates of various pre-defined categories of cause of death each year. The WHO also publishes information on the causes of death within individual countries in an accessible interactive platform.