Men in their early twenties and women in their early fifties are most at risk of suicide in Ireland.
There were 552 deaths by suicide in 2009, the last year for which these figures were available. This is a rate of 12.4 deaths per 100,000 population.
The Irish Times reported the figures from the annual report of the HSE National Office for Suicide Prevention today.
Suicide is significantly more likely among men than women. It has increased among men in the last few decades, from a rate of 8.4 in 1980 to a peak of 23.5 in 1998, to 20.0 per 100,000 in 2009.
The female suicide rate has remained relatively constant in the last 30 years. The rate ranged from 4.3 in 1980 to 4.3 in 1998 to 4.9 per 100,000 people in 2009.
The report also revealed that by European standards Ireland has the sixth lowest rate of death by suicide. The country with the lowest rate is Greece, with 3.9 people per 100,000, and the country with the highest rate is 34 per 100,000 in Lithuania.
Minister of State for Mental Health Kathleen Lynch welcomed the report today and said the Government was committed to improving mental health services and reducing the number of deaths by suicide.
“An additional €3m is being provided this year out of the special €35m announced in the budget for mental health to advance the implementation of Reach Out, the national strategy for action in this area,” she said.
Nosp invests in and works with 42 programmes in 27 organisations such as Console, Samaritans and Pieta House.
In response to the increase in suicide rates, Nosp received an additional €1 million funding from Government in 2011.
Anyone who is emotionally distressed can speak to the Samaritans on 1850 60 90 90 in confidence or visit www.yourmentalhealth.ie, www.letsomeoneknow.ie and www.nosp.ie
