Suicide in Lesotho

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Suicide is a significant social issue in Lesotho, having the highest suicide rate in the world. According to the World Health Organization, 87.5 people per 100,000 of the population take their own life every year in Lesotho. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Statistics

A 2019 World Health Organization report indicated that Lesotho had a suicide rate of 87.5 per 100,000 people. This is about 10 times higher than the global suicide rate of 9.0 per 100,000 people for 2019. [4] By comparison, Guyana, the second highest country on the list, had a suicide rate of 40.9 per 100,000. [1]

Suicides rate (per 100,000) by year and gender, Lesotho, 2000–2019
YearMaleFemaleTotal
200073.916.042.6
200170.415.440.4
200274.615.942.6
200379.117.945.7
200482.218.047.1
200582.717.246.7
200695.622.155.4
2007108.022.461.3
2008133.830.777.8
2009148.130.884.6
2010152.730.786.9
2011156.934.991.1
2012172.940.7102.0
2013188.244.2111.4
2014195.246.3116.2
2015191.545.9114.5
2016180.141.9107.1
2017164.035.896.3
2018158.434.693.1
2019146.934.687.5
Source: World Health Organization [1]

Lesotho's suicide rate reached its highest number in 2014, with 116.2 suicides per 100,000 people. The rate has been slowly dropping ever since. [1]

According to 2020 data by the World Health Organization, 1,539 people died by suicide in Lesotho that year, accounting for 4.62% of total deaths in the country. This makes it the 7th most common cause of death in Lesotho. [5]

The suicide rate is significantly higher among men than among women in Lesotho, with the amount of men committing suicide being over three times higher than women. [1]

Risk factors

Reasons behind the suicide rates in Lesotho include poverty, unemployment, bad living conditions and gender-based violence. [2] Evidence suggests a relationship between suicidal behaviour and economical variables, affecting countries with high poverty rates. [6]

Stigma against mental illness and lack of mental health services have been cited as major factors against suicide prevention in Lesotho. [7] Lesotho has no national mental health policy and the country's only psychiatric unit hasn't had a psychiatrist since 2017. [2]

Experts have also highlighted that addictions and misuse of drugs and alcohol and a lack of mental health counselling as factors behind Lesotho's high suicide rate. [8]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Suicide rate estimates, age-standardized Estimates by WHO region". World Health Organization . Retrieved 19 February 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 Lombard, Andre (6 August 2024). "The small African country with the world's highest suicide rate". BBC News . Retrieved 19 February 2025.
  3. ↑ Esene, Shalom (17 October 2024). "Inside One Organization's Fight to Lower Lesotho's Suicide Rate". OkayAfrica . Retrieved 19 February 2025.
  4. ↑ Suicide Worldwide in 2019: Global Health Estimates (PDF). World Health Organization. 16 June 2021. ISBN   978-9-2400-2664-3 . Retrieved 25 February 2025.
  5. ↑ "Suicide in Lesotho". worldlifeexpectancy.com. Archived from the original on 3 December 2024. Retrieved 25 February 2025.
  6. ↑ Bantjes, J.; Iemmi, V.; Coast, E.; Channer, K.; Leone, T.; McDaid, D.; Palfreyman, A.; Stephens, B.; Lund, C. (2016). "Poverty and suicide research in low- and middle-income countries: systematic mapping of literature published in English and a proposed research agenda". Global Mental Health. 3 e32. doi: 10.1017/gmh.2016.27 . PMC   5454768 . PMID   28596900.
  7. ↑ Farmer, Ben; Moshoeshoe, Mamasupha; Townsley, Simon (20 February 2024). "'What kind of man cries?': The country with the highest suicide rate in the world". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 19 February 2025.
  8. ↑ Rukanga, Basillioh (5 March 2025). "Nine things about Lesotho - the country 'nobody has ever heard of'". BBC News. Retrieved 7 July 2025.


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