Depression (i18)
- 30/11/2022
- objective
- assessment
In 2018, 7.4% of the population aged 15 and over in Belgium, reported having suffered from depression in the last twelve months. To achieve the sustainable development goal by 2030, this figure must decrease. Between 2001 and 2018, the trend is undetermined (assessment of November 2022).
Depression - Belgium
in the last twelve months
percentage of population aged 15 years and over
| 1997 | 2001 | 2004 | 2008 | 2013 | 2018 | 2018//1997 | 2018//2013 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belgium | 6.5 | 6.3 | 5.9 | 6.0 | 6.7 | 7.4 | 0.6 | 2.0 |
| //: Average Growth Rates | ||||||||
Sciensano (2019), J. Van der Heyden, R. Charafeddine, Enquête de santé 2018: Maladies et affections chroniques. Bruxelles, Belgique: Numéro de rapport: D/2019/14.440/27, www.enquetesante.be, Belgian Health Interview Survey - Interactive Analysis, https://hisia.wiv-isp.be/ (consulted on 16/10/2019).
Depression by region - Belgium
in the last twelve months
percentage of population aged 15 years and over
| 1997 | 2001 | 2004 | 2008 | 2013 | 2018 | 2018//1997 | 2018//2013 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brussels-Capital Region | 8.2 | 8.9 | 7.5 | 7.3 | 7.7 | 7.7 | -0.3 | 0.0 |
| Flemish Region | 5.1 | 4.9 | 4.8 | 5.1 | 5.9 | 6.7 | 1.3 | 2.6 |
| Walloon Region | 8.3 | 8.0 | 7.5 | 7.4 | 7.6 | 8.4 | 0.1 | 2.0 |
| //: Average Growth Rates | ||||||||
The margin of uncertainty for this indicator is indicated in the text for the latest year.
Sciensano (2019), J. Van der Heyden, R. Charafeddine, Enquête de santé 2018: Maladies et affections chroniques. Bruxelles, Belgique: Numéro de rapport: D/2019/14.440/27, www.enquetesante.be, Belgian Health Interview Survey - Interactive Analysis, https://hisia.wiv-isp.be/ (consulted on 16/10/2019).
Depression by sex - Belgium
in the last twelve months
percentage of population aged 15 years and over
| 1997 | 2001 | 2004 | 2008 | 2013 | 2018 | 2018//1997 | 2018//2013 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| females | 8.2 | 7.7 | 7.1 | 7.7 | 8.3 | 9.1 | 0.5 | 1.9 |
| males | 4.7 | 4.8 | 4.6 | 4.3 | 4.9 | 5.5 | 0.8 | 2.3 |
| //: Average Growth Rates | ||||||||
Sciensano (2019), J. Van der Heyden, R. Charafeddine, Enquête de santé 2018: Maladies et affections chroniques. Bruxelles, Belgique: Numéro de rapport: D/2019/14.440/27, www.enquetesante.be, Belgian Health Interview Survey - Interactive Analysis, https://hisia.wiv-isp.be/ (consulted on 16/10/2019).
Depression by education - Belgium
in the last twelve months
percentage of population aged 15 years and over
| 1997 | 2001 | 2004 | 2008 | 2013 | 2018 | 2018//1997 | 2018//2013 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| primary education | 10.0 | 8.3 | 10.2 | 8.6 | 14.8 | 11.6 | 0.7 | -4.8 |
| lower secondary education | 9.3 | 8.0 | 6.0 | 9.2 | 9.7 | 11.3 | 0.9 | 3.1 |
| higher secondary education | 5.3 | 5.9 | 5.6 | 6.0 | 6.3 | 7.5 | 1.7 | 3.5 |
| tertiary education | 4.5 | 4.3 | 4.3 | 3.9 | 4.0 | 5.5 | 1.0 | 6.6 |
| //: Average Growth Rates | ||||||||
Sciensano (2019), J. Van der Heyden, R. Charafeddine, Enquête de santé 2018: Maladies et affections chroniques. Bruxelles, Belgique: Numéro de rapport: D/2019/14.440/27, www.enquetesante.be, Belgian Health Interview Survey - Interactive Analysis, https://hisia.wiv-isp.be/ (consulted on 16/10/2019).
Depression by income - Belgium
in the last twelve months
percentage of population aged 15 years and over
| 2001 | 2004 | 2008 | 2013 | 2018 | 2018//2001 | 2018//2013 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| quintile 1 | 8.0 | 8.1 | 8.7 | 10.5 | 14.9 | 3.7 | 7.3 |
| quintile 2 | 9.2 | 9.5 | 9.0 | 10.7 | 10.2 | 0.6 | -1.0 |
| quintile 3 | 6.6 | 6.2 | 6.1 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 0.8 | 0.0 |
| quintile 4 | 7.0 | 4.3 | 5.5 | 4.9 | 6.9 | -0.1 | 7.1 |
| quintile 5 | 3.6 | 3.6 | 2.6 | 2.7 | 3.9 | 0.5 | 7.6 |
| //: Average Growth Rates | |||||||
Sciensano (2019), J. Van der Heyden, R. Charafeddine, Enquête de santé 2018: Maladies et affections chroniques. Bruxelles, Belgique: Numéro de rapport: D/2019/14.440/27, www.enquetesante.be, Belgian Health Interview Survey - Interactive Analysis, https://hisia.wiv-isp.be/ (consulted on 16/10/2019).
Definition: share of the population aged 15 and over that reports having suffered from depression in the past twelve months. The data come from the National Health Surveys carried out by the Scientific Institute of Public Health / Sciensano for Belgium and from Eurostat for the other European countries. For the 1997 Belgian health survey, 10 221 people were interviewed; for the 2001 issue: 12 111; for the 2004 issue: 12,650; for the 2008 survey: 8,836 and in 2013, 10,834 people. Since these data are based on surveys, a margin of uncertainty must be taken into account. This margin of uncertainty increases as the indicator is calculated on smaller sub-populations. The Sciensano website presents these data with their confidence intervals.
Goal: the share of people suffering from depression must decrease.
The Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs adopted by the UN in 2015 include target 3.4: “By 2030, reduce by one third premature mortality from non-communicable diseases through prevention and treatment and promote mental health and well-being” To promote mental health, the share of people suffering from depression must decrease.
International comparison: for the EU27 Eurostat publishes data on chronic depression for 2014 and 2019. In 2019, Belgium positioned with 7.3% very close to the EU average of 7.2%. In that year, Romania ranked first with 1.0% and Portugal last with 12.2% (Eurostat, 2022).
UN Indicator: the selected indicator is related to indicator 3.4.2 - Suicide mortality rate Depressed people are more likely than others to commit suicide.
Sources
-
General
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SDGs, Sustainable Development Goals: United Nations (2015), Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 25 September 2015, document A/RES/70/1.
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Indicators: United Nations (2017), Work of the Statistical Commission pertaining to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 6 July 2017, document A/RES/71/313.
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UN Sustainable Development: https://sdgs.un.org/ (consulted on 18/01/2023).
- UN Sustainable Development Goal indicators website: https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/ (consulted on 18/01/2023).
-
-
Specific
- Eurostat (2022), Persons reporting a chronic disease, by disease, sex, age and educational attainment level, hlth_ehis_cd1e, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat (consulted on 26/10/2022).
Federal Planning Bureau
At www.indicators.be the Federal Planning Bureau presents sustainable development indicators.
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