Social: Suicides down slightly, three-quarters of deaths are men

In France, 8,848 people, mainly men, took their own lives in 2023, Public Health France reported on Friday, noting a "relatively stable" number of suicides among both sexes, both over a year and compared to the previous five years.

And compared to the previous five years, suicide death rates are "generally stable at the national level for both sexes," notes the health agency, which publishes statistics on the causes of death 18 months after the end of the year in question. Three out of four deaths involved men in 2023 (75.1%).

Older men are the population category with the highest suicide rates: those aged 85 and over have the highest rate, with 76 deaths per 100,000 men, compared to 37 and 29 deaths per 100,000 among those aged 65 and over and those aged 45-64, respectively.

About one in two suicides (51%) resulted from hanging (55% for men, 37% for women), the most frequently recorded method on death certificates for 2023 for both sexes. Firearms were the next most common method for men, and medication use for women. Among women, those aged 85 and over had the highest death rate (12 deaths per 100,000 women), followed by those aged 45-64 (10 per 100,000).

As for hospitalizations for "self-inflicted acts" (suicide attempts or non-suicidal self-mutilation such as scarification, burns, etc.) that could be recorded for 2024, the rates increased for young girls and young women. And they remained "significantly higher" than those for other age groups: 674 hospitalizations per 100,000 among 11-17 year-olds and 424 per 100,000 women among 18-24 year-olds. "Drug self-poisoning was the method of hospitalization in 77% of stays, and was the preferred method regardless of gender" last year (some data being available more quickly), notes SpF.