Suicide was the 10th-leading cause of death last year among Taiwanese men, although the overall mortality rate from suicides in the nation is decreasing, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
The figures showed that 163,574 people died in Taiwan last year and 98,230 of them were men.
Among the men who died, 2,426 took their own lives, moving suicide up one notch from the previous year and making it the 10th-leading cause of death among men, ahead of nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis, the figures showed.
Cancer remained the top cause of death among Taiwanese men last year, followed by heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, pneumonia, accidents, diabetes, chronic lower respiratory disease, chronic liver disease and cirrhosis, hypertensive disease and suicide, according to the figures.
A total of 3,675 people committed suicide in Taiwan last year, with a mortality rate of 15.7 per 100,000 people and a standardized mortality rate of 12.1 per 100,000 people.
The standardized mortality rate adjusts the regular mortality rate according to the population’s average age. The older a population, the lower the standardized mortality rate is likely to be.
Chen Li-chung (諶立中), the head of the ministry’s Department of Mental and Oral Health, said the suicide rate has fluctuated within a narrow range in recent years, but the rate’s three-year moving average has been showing a downward trend.
Chen said the suicide rate among people aged between 65 and 74 fell last year from a year earlier, possibly due to the government’s investment in long-term care.
However, the percentage of people above the age of 74 who took their own lives remained high, possibly due to serious chronic illnesses that affected their quality of life, he said.
The suicide rate for people in the 0-24, 25-44, and 45-64 age brackets increased slightly last year, which Chen described as a warning sign.
He said the department would pay more attention to people who are more likely to attempt suicide.
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