World Health Organization suicide report stated that suicide kills one person per 40 seconds.
This number translates into more than 800,000 people committing suicide every year.
WHO said in its one of its kind report that although suicide affects all nations around the world, 75 percent of all suicide-related deaths occur in low and middle income countries "where resources and services, if they do exist, are often scarce and limited for early identification, treatment, and support."
According to Shekhar Saxena, director of WHO's mental health department, "Suicide kills more than conflicts, wars and natural catastrophes. There are 1.5 million violent deaths every year in the world, of which 800,000 are suicides."
The suicide report indicated an annual global age-standardized suicide rate of 11.4 per 100,000 population (15.0 for males and 8.0 for females), which translates that men are more likely to their lives than women.
According to WHO, "Suicide is the second most common cause of death globally for people aged between 15 and 29 but men over 50 are particularly vulnerable too."
Due to its sensitivity and being illegal in some countries, it is very likely that these numbers are underestimated. Other countries may have also misclassified suicide as an accident or any other cause of death.
"There are indications that for each adult who died there may have been more than 20 others attempting suicide," said the WHO report titled "Preventing Suicide: A Global Imperative".
Southeast Asia and India have highest suicide rates in 2012, according to the suicide report.
"Suicide rates are highest in people aged 70 years and over. In some countries, however, the highest rates are found among the young," said WHO.
The report also enumerated ways by which suicide is committed: pesticides, gunshots, and hanging, jumping, medication, and poisonous gases. Using guns as suicide weapon accounts for more than 50 percent of all suicides in the United States.
The report listed the countries that were most prone to suicide: Guyana (44.2 per 100,000); North and South Korea (38.5 and 28.9 respectively); Sri Lanka (28.8), Lithuania (28.2), Suriname (27.8), Mozambique (27.4), Nepal and Tanzania (24.9 each), Burundi (23.1), India (21.1), and South Sudan (19.8).
They were followed by Russia and Uganda (19.5), Hungary (19.1), Japan (18.5), and Belarus (18.3).
WHO aims to reduce global suicide rates by 10 percent by the end of 2020.
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