Definition: the standardised suicide mortality rate equals to the number of deaths due to suicide per 100,000 inhabitants.

The Walloon (for Wallonia) and Flemish (for Flanders and Brussels) administration are information using the 10th WHO International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) to attribute a cause of death based on the information provided in the death certificate. This is filled out by a doctor and the municipality office. Suicide is categorized as a death due to intentional self-poisoning or self-harm (codes X60 till X84, Y870), for example, intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to carbon monoxide and other gases and vapours (X67) or intentional self-harm by handgun discharge (X72). Statistics Belgium couples this cause of death with population registers of Belgium to exclude nonresident deaths in Belgium and include residents’ deaths occurring abroad.

The population used in the denominator of the indicator covers residents: people registered in the National Population Register, in the register of foreigners, and in the register of European officials.

Mortality rates are strongly correlated with age. To compare different regions, countries or developments over time, it is important to standardise the rates using the same age structure of the population. Eurostat and Sciensano use the European standard population for this purpose.

The data on suicide mortality rates of Belgium and the EU27 come from Stabel and Eurostat respectively and are standardized, namely adjusted according to age. For the regions, the figures are available since 2011. Data up to 2010 for the regions are from Sciensano and are also standardised mortality rates..

Comparisons of suicide data can be seriously impeded by stigma, societal and legal considerations in the reporting, and by the time needed to determine the cause of death and process related data. It is also likely that suicide statistics underestimate the phenomenon, simply because the intention of an event leading to death cannot always be determined. For Belgian residents dying abroad, the cause of death remains unknown as there is no death certificate available for them.

Goal: the age-adjusted suicide mortality rate 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.". In line with the second part of that target, the suicide mortality rate in Belgium must decrease.

International comparison: the standardised suicide mortality rate of the EU27 declined from 14.3 in 2002 to 10.2 in 2020. Belgium systematically scores higher than the EU27 average.When Member States are divided into three groups, Belgium is part of the group with the poorest performance in 2020. In that year Cyprus ranked first with 3.5 and Lithuania last with 21.3.

UN Indicator: the selected indicator corresponds to indicator 3.4.2 – Suicide mortality rate. The Belgian suicide mortality rate is age-standardized, whereas the UN proposed indicator refers to crude rates. The difference between both rates in Belgium is very small.

Sources

• General

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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

  • Sciensano (2021), Suicide, https://www.healthybelgium.be/en/health-status/mental-health/suicidal-behaviour (consulted on 05/10/2021).

More information is available in French and Dutch.