Suicide prevention: information for the public

This resource covers what is known about suicide prevention in Europe: who is at risk, what reduces risk, how to help someone, and where to get help in each country.

Key figures for Europe

These are the most recent published by the two bodies that compile them for Europe. Both sets are estimates, and the reasons are set out on Data and research.

• 48,370 people died by suicide in the European Union in 2023, about 1% of all deaths. The standardised death rate was 10.4 per 100,000, down from 12.2 in 2013. Source: Eurostat, September 2026.
• More than 120,000 people die by suicide each year across the WHO European Region, which is wider than the European Union. That is more than 300 deaths a day. Source: WHO Regional Office for Europe, 2025.
• 76.4% of suicides recorded in the European Union are among men, and the rate among men is about three times the rate among women. The WHO European Region has the widest gap between male and female suicide rates of any region it reports on.
• Suicide is the leading cause of death among people aged 15 to 29 in the European Region.

Where to start

What is being done at European level

Health policy is a national responsibility in the European Union, and suicide prevention is delivered by member states. The European Union funds coordination, comparable statistics and the transfer of programmes between countries. Four strands are worth knowing about, because they shape what is available nationally.

• A European framework on mental health. In June 2023 the European Commission adopted a communication on a comprehensive approach to mental health, setting out 20 flagship actions and around EUR 1.23 billion in funding opportunities. One of the flagships is a European depression and suicide prevention initiative, supported with EUR 6 million, which helps member states develop and carry out policy by exchanging established practice.
• Moving programmes between countries. The Joint Action ImpleMENTAL, funded under the previous EU health programme, supported 21 countries. One of its two strands took an Austrian suicide prevention model and helped other countries adopt it.
• Community-based prevention. The four-level intervention developed by the European Alliance Against Depression trains primary care staff, runs public awareness campaigns, trains community gatekeepers such as teachers and police officers, and supports people affected and their families. It has been adopted in more than 150 regions. EU-funded projects have since introduced it in Bulgaria, Estonia, Greece and Poland, and extended it in Hungary, Ireland and Spain.
• Comparable data. Eurostat publishes suicide statistics for every member state on a common definition. That comparability is the point of it. It is what allows a country to see whether it is doing better or worse than its neighbours, rather than only than its own past.

One number that works across borders

The number range beginning 116 is reserved at European Union level for services of social value. Within it, 116 123 is reserved for emotional support helplines. Where a country has put it into service it is free to call, and it reaches the national emotional support line. In Ireland and the United Kingdom it is the Samaritans number, and it is also in service in Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania and Slovenia. Availability is decided by each country rather than by the European Commission, so it does not connect everywhere, and in some countries it has been reserved without yet being answered. Get support lists where it is confirmed and gives national numbers for everywhere else.

What this resource does not do