Suicide rate

Number of suicide deaths per 100 thousand inhabitants. To allow for a comparison over the years, standardisation takes place by converting figures from one year to another (standard) year, based on age or sex. In this news release, the age composition of the Dutch population in 2021 is used as a standard.

In the first chart, suicide mortality rates for the years 1970-2021 have been converted year by year, so that each year in this series contains the (virtual) figure: as if the age composition in that year were the same as in 2021. Through standardisation, developments in age composition are taken into account, which enables comparison over time and reveals the actual increase or decrease in suicide rates.