Suicide rate, by age in Australia

Australia: Suicide rate, by age was 0.6238 deaths per 100,000 people in 2021. ▲ Rising

Latest (2021)
0.6238 deaths per 100,000 people
Change on year
up 21.2%
World rank
50th
of 194 countries
All-time high
0.6238 deaths per 100,000 people
in 2021
All-time low
0.0703 deaths per 100,000 people
in 2009
Years of data
22
2000–2021

Suicide rate, by age in Australia, 2000–2021

00.20.40.62000201020212000: 0.223 deaths per 100,000 people2001: 0.2 deaths per 100,000 people2002: 0.201 deaths per 100,000 people2003: 0.342 deaths per 100,000 people2004: 0.192 deaths per 100,000 people2005: 0.219 deaths per 100,000 people2006: 0.212 deaths per 100,000 people2007: 0.299 deaths per 100,000 people2008: 0.274 deaths per 100,000 people2009: 0.07 deaths per 100,000 people2010: 0.279 deaths per 100,000 people2011: 0.379 deaths per 100,000 people2012: 0.367 deaths per 100,000 people2013: 0.496 deaths per 100,000 people2014: 0.503 deaths per 100,000 people2015: 0.304 deaths per 100,000 people2016: 0.399 deaths per 100,000 people2017: 0.505 deaths per 100,000 people2018: 0.481 deaths per 100,000 people2019: 0.397 deaths per 100,000 people2020: 0.515 deaths per 100,000 people2021: 0.624 deaths per 100,000 people

Source: World Health Organization (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in deaths per 100,000 people.

Analysis

In 2021, suicide rate, by age in Australia stood at 0.6238 deaths per 100,000 people. That is the highest value across all 22 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 21.2% on the previous year and up 64.6% over ten years.

Over the whole period, suicide rate, by age in Australia peaked at 0.6238 deaths per 100,000 people in 2021 and was at its lowest, 0.0703 deaths per 100,000 people, in 2009.

Australia ranks 50th of 194 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 22 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 0.2233 deaths per 100,000 people 0.0703 deaths per 100,000 people 0.3417 deaths per 100,000 people 10
2010s 0.4109 deaths per 100,000 people 0.2792 deaths per 100,000 people 0.5052 deaths per 100,000 people 10
2020s 0.5692 deaths per 100,000 people 0.5147 deaths per 100,000 people 0.6238 deaths per 100,000 people 2

Countries ranked near Australia

  1. 47 Costa Rica 0.6572 deaths per 100,000 people compare
  2. 49 Nigeria 0.6393 deaths per 100,000 people compare
  3. 51 Eritrea 0.6229 deaths per 100,000 people compare
  4. 52 Sweden 0.6043 deaths per 100,000 people compare
  5. 53 Gabon 0.5896 deaths per 100,000 people compare

See the full ranking of 194 places →

More health data for Australia

All data for Australia →

Frequently asked questions

What is suicide rate, by age in Australia?
Suicide rate, by age in Australia was 0.6238 deaths per 100,000 people in 2021, according to World Health Organization (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest suicide rate, by age recorded in Australia?
The highest recorded value was 0.6238 deaths per 100,000 people in 2021.
What is the lowest suicide rate, by age recorded in Australia?
The lowest recorded value was 0.0703 deaths per 100,000 people in 2009.
How does Australia rank for suicide rate, by age?
Australia ranks 50th out of 194 countries with data for 2021.
Is suicide rate, by age rising or falling in Australia?
Over the last ten years it is up 64.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Australia data come from?
The figures come from World Health Organization (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Suicide rate, by age. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 22 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Suicide rate, by age
Unit
deaths per 100,000 people
Source
World Health Organization (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
194 places, 4,268 data points, 2000–2021
Last refreshed

Estimated number of deaths from self-harm among both sexes aged 0-14 year olds, per 100,000 people.