The suicide rate in Romania is above the European average for some of the most predisposed categories, namely teenagers aged between 15 and 19 and adults with ages between 50 and 54, according to a Eurostat survey quoted by local news agency Mediafax.

According to the survey, the age groups with the highest incidence of suicide are 15-19, 50-54 and over 85.

Suicide rates are low in southern Europe countries, such as Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Malta, Spain and Portugal, but also in the UK, and high in countries such as Lithuania, Hungary, Latvia, and Finland.

In Romania, suicide among teenagers aged between 15 and 19 record a rate of 6.3 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, over the European average of 4.6.

The suicide rate among men is 9.2, compared to the EU average of 6.9, while in the case of women the rate in Romania is 3.2, also above the European average, reports Mediafax.

For the 50-54 years age group, Romania has a rate of 22 suicides per 100,000 inhabitants, for both sexes, compared to the European average of 18.3.

If the rate of suicide among Romanian women aged 50-54 was below the EU average, the rate in the case of men was very high - 40.6 compared to the EU average of 28.7 per 100,000 inhabitants.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com