Suicide rates vary considerably across the Asia/Pacific region. In 2021 (or latest year), suicide rates were lowest in Armenia, the Philippines and Tajikistan, at less than 3 suicides per 100 000 people (Figure 6.7). Japan, Mongolia and particularly Korea have the highest suicide rates, with more than 15 deaths per 100 000 people. There is a twelvefold difference between Armenia and Korea, the two countries with the lowest and highest suicide rate respectively. Across the 18 countries in the Asia/Pacific region for which data are available, suicide accounted for over 55 000 deaths in 2021 (or the most recent year), roughly 11 suicides per 100 000 people. The average suicide rate tends to be higher for men than for women. In Armenia, Georgia and Mongolia, men were at least 6 times more likely to commit suicide than women in 2021. Although the gap was smallest in Hong Kong, China, Japan, Korea, Singapore and Uzbekistan, male suicide rates were still at least twice as high as female suicide rates.
Over the past decade, the average suicide rate across Asia/Pacific countries with available data has decreased, but at a slightly slower pace than the OECD average (Figure 6.8). Despite concerns that COVID‑19 pandemic might lead to an increase in suicides, the suicide rate decreased by 0.6 percentage points on average in Asia/Pacific countries with available data between 2019 and 2020.
On average, older people are most likely to take their own lives, with 16 people per 100 000 aged 75 years or older committing suicide, compared to 11 per 100 000 people aged between 15 and 29 years (Figure 6.9). When compared to OECD countries (OECD, 2023[1]), the suicide rate is higher on average among people under 40 in the Asia/Pacific region, while it tends to be lower among older populations. Differences in suicide rates between men and women become particularly important at older ages, mainly after 75 years old, where suicide rates are more than two times greater for men than for women on average across Asia/Pacific countries.
