Number of suicides in Flanders down in 2021, except among young women | Interior

First the relatively good news. The number of suicides in Flanders continues to fall. For example, 913 people died by suicide in 2021 (641 men and 272 women), a decrease of 7.1 percent compared to 2020. Since 2000, there has been a decrease of almost 34 percent.

The number of suicide attempts also continues to fall. In 2021, an estimated 8,449 attempts were reported to the emergency services. That is a decrease of 7.9 percent compared to 2020.

The VLESP calls the global evolution “positive and hopeful”. Nevertheless, Flanders still has 2.5 suicides per day and Flanders therefore remains one of the sad leaders within the EU. The Flemish suicide rate is 1.4 times higher than the average within the European Union.

The figures for 2021 show some striking outliers. In a positive sense, there is a decrease in the number of suicides among men aged between 45 and 59. In 2021 there was a decrease of 19 percent for that age group compared to 2020.

A negative outlier is the age group of young women between 15 and 29 years. There has been an increase of 22 percent in one year, while the group of young men of that age has experienced a decrease of 1 percent. One hypothesis is that this group of women may have suffered more as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic in contrast to other groups.

The VLESP wants to monitor concerns about young women “with heightened attention”. According to director Gwendolyn Portzky, the VLESP will also issue recommendations this fall “regarding the detection and treatment of young people who are suicidal”. Within the new Flemish Suicide Prevention Action Plan – which should help to achieve the target of a 10 percent reduction in suicide mortality by 2030 – there are also plans to develop an app to support suicidal young people.

To do something about the need for faster and better figures, Minister Crevits is also making 150,000 euros available for research into and registration of suicide attempts by the Unit for Suicide Research at Ghent University. “We invest heavily in research and registration of suicide attempts because suicide attempts are seen as one of the greatest risk factors for subsequent suicide or attempted suicide,” the minister explains.

While both Flemish and international studies point to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the restrictive measures on the mental well-being of the population, according to the VLESP, the number of suicides and the number of suicide attempts “has not increased compared to the period before the corona pandemic (2017-2019)”. “Nevertheless, studies do indicate that psychological distress and thoughts of suicide have increased during the pandemic. These are risk factors for suicides and suicide attempts and this shows that it is important to continue to monitor these figures closely,” concludes the VLESP.

If you have questions about suicide, you can contact the Suicide Line via the free number 1813 or on www.zelfmoord1813.be.