Convergence Analysis of 5 Suicide Measures for 57 Countries During 1995 to 2015

Abstract

An estimated 804,000 suicide deaths occurred in 2012, representing an annual global age-standardized suicide ratio of 11.4 per 100,000 populations. Suicide ratios are not distributed evenly across people or places, varying by income level, gender, and age. Changes in suicide ratios over time also differ across people and places. This paper will examine dynamic changes of suicide ratios across 5 suicide measures for 57 countries as well as for 8 subgroups of countries during the period of 1995 to 2015 using the method of convergence analysis. The results show a wide variation in terms of annual reduction rate of suicide ratios and annual speed of catch-up effects by the subgroups of countries across the 5 suicide measures. Implications from these findings will be discussed.