Suicide attempts in Sweden

This page reports the occurrence of suicide attempts (self-harm injuries with determined intent and injuries with undetermined intent) in Sweden.

Suicide attempts are defined by the international classification manual ICD 10 (as well as older editions of the manual). Suicide attempts or self-harm injuries with determined intent correspond to diagnoses X60-X84 (Codes for Intentional Self-Harm), and  injuries with undetermined intent correspond to diagnoses Y10-Y34. It should be noted that suicide attempts in this sense include injuries both with and without suicidal intent, regardless of whether the diagnose is determined or undetermined.

Number of suicide attempts

Number of suicide attempts (injuries with determined and undetermined intent) in different age groups in Sweden, 2021 (inpatient care only)

Number of suicide attempts 2021
 0-14 yrs 15-24 yrs 25-44 yrs 45-64 yrs 65+ yrs Total, all ages Total, all ages (%)
Men 60 523 1086 710 481 2860 38%
Women 315 1582 1404 861 558 4720 62%
Both sexes 375 2105 2490 1571 1039 7580 100%
Both sexes previous year (2020) 264 2058 2561 1724 1106 7713 100%

13% of the total number of suicide attempts 2021 consisted of events of undetermined intent.

Number of suicide attempts (injuries with determined and undetermined intent) in different age groups in Sweden, 2020 (inpatient care only)

Number of suicides attempts 2020
 0-14 yrs 15-24 yrs 25-44 yrs 45-64 yrs 65+ yrs Total, all ages Total, all ages (%)
Men 58 626 1083 770 514 3051 40%
Women 206 1432 1478 942 592 4662 60%
Both sexes 264 2058 2561 1724 1106 7713 100%
Both sexes previous year (2019) 247 2028 2670 1748 1103 7796 100%

13% of the total number of suicide attempts 2020 consisted of events of undetermined intent.

Suicide attempt rates over time

Suicide attempt rates (injuries with determined and undetermined intent) among both men and women in Sweden, by age group, 1987-2021.

Number of patients per 100,000 inhabitants. Inpatient care only.

Suicide attempt rates over time
15-24 yrs 25-44 yrs 45-64 yrs 65+ yrs Total, 15+ yrs
1987 158,1 164,3 100,1 62,0 124,2
1988 148,1 152,2 95,4 60,1 116,5
1989 161,3 150,4 93,5 63,7 118,2
1990 142,6 139,7 88,8 62,4 109,6
1991 138,0 133,5 86,4 64,2 106,2
1992 140,0 130,7 83,7 63,0 104,3
1993 144,5 133,3 87,8 64,3 107,1
1994 161,1 141,7 93,8 66,7 114,6
1995 166,7 146,5 101,0 70,4 119,9
1996 172,6 142,0 96,0 64,5 116,2
1997 125,0 102,9 64,2 44,5 81,9
1998 142,0 103,9 68,6 42,7 85,5
1999 167,2 111,1 71,4 46,9 93,2
2000 173,3 109,8 73,6 50,8 95,0
2001 193,2 122,4 84,9 53,6 106,2
2002 193,8 118,2 84,3 52,1 104,5
2003 198,5 118,7 83,6 49,7 104,7
2004 222,4 121,1 88,6 57,3 112,4
2005 227,4 133,4 95,0 58,5 119,7
2006 233,6 132,9 94,0 53,9 119,6
2007 250,2 134,1 95,5 56,4 123,8
2008 246,9 141,1 101,6 59,4 128,2
2009 229,6 136,8 96,9 51,3 120,7
2010 210,7 126,0 93,3 50,8 112,8
2011 218,6 127,4 94,5 52,2 114,7
2012 211,8 131,2 94,9 58,3 115,8
2013 191,4 119,0 89,4 50,6 105,0
2014 182,5 112,0 80,2 50,0 98,2
2015 177,6 111,4 79,6 50,8 96,9
2016 170,9 106,1 80,6 51,0 94,5
2017 174,8 104,4 74,7 48,0 91,8
2018 167,4 98,3 69,2 49,1 87,2
2019 175,4 97,5 69,0 53,4 88,8
2020 178,0 93,2 67,7 53,0 87,2
2021 180,0 90,0 61,5 49,1 83,6
Five-year moving average suicide attempt rates (self-harm injuries with determined intent and injuries with undetermined intent). Sweden (1987-2021). Inpatient care only.
Five-year moving average suicide attempt rates (self-harm injuries with determined intent and injuries with undetermined intent). Sweden (1987-2021). Inpatient care only. Photo: Bianca Blazevska

Men

Suicide attempt rates (injuries with determined and undetermined intent) among men in Sweden, by age group, 1987-2021.

Number of patients per 100,000 men. Inpatient care only.

Men
15-24 yrs 25-44 yrs 45-64 yrs 65+ yrs Total, 15+ yrs
1987 106,5 153,5 91,4 61,5 111,1
1988 102,5 140,3 82,2 55,4 101,8
1989 111,5 135,0 83,7 62,5 103,1
1990 98,6 124,8 76,7 61,7 95,0
1991 91,8 122,0 74,3 63,7 92,4
1992 94,0 119,5 73,1 57,9 90,3
1993 91,5 118,5 78,7 63,2 92,1
1994 102,1 128,5 85,9 65,1 99,7
1995 101,1 124,2 90,8 68,2 100,1
1996 104,9 123,0 85,0 62,6 97,3
1997 70,9 89,2 56,1 45,4 68,0
1998 79,8 84,4 56,3 43,2 67,3
1999 99,4 92,3 61,1 45,7 74,9
2000 105,1 88,0 59,8 48,4 74,2
2001 112,9 96,3 71,3 55,2 83,2
2002 106,2 93,9 76,1 53,0 82,6
2003 100,6 93,0 70,9 49,8 79,2
2004 125,1 96,8 76,7 61,3 88,1
2005 126,3 111,0 86,0 65,2 96,8
2006 130,6 107,3 84,7 56,7 94,4
2007 145,5 110,2 86,0 56,3 98,1
2008 143,8 116,6 95,8 63,7 104,4
2009 143,2 113,2 88,6 53,1 98,7
2010 132,7 107,3 85,0 49,7 93,0
2011 141,8 112,3 85,4 48,0 95,4
2012 134,9 112,1 83,7 60,9 96,2
2013 115,6 101,4 82,4 54,0 87,6
2014 112,2 91,8 72,6 48,5 79,6
2015 107,0 99,6 71,2 50,7 81,2
2016 97,3 90,9 70,1 51,0 76,7
2017 94,6 87,5 64,4 47,6 72,6
2018 97,4 84,1 59,8 47,6 70,5
2019 102,0 79,5 60,3 53,8 71,1
2020 103,4 76,8 59,8 52,8 70,0
2021 85,5 76,4 54,9 48,6 64,9
Five-year moving average suicide attempt rates (self-harm injuries with determined intent and injuries with undetermined intent). Men, Sweden (1987-2021). Inpatient care only.
Five-year moving average suicide attempt rates (self-harm injuries with determined intent and injuries with undetermined intent). Men, Sweden (1987-2021). Inpatient care only. Photo: Bianca Blazevska

Women

Suicide attempt rates (injuries with determined and undetermined intent) among women in Sweden, by age group, 1987-2021.

Number of patients per 100,000 women. Inpatient care only.

Women
15-24 yrs 25-44 yrs 45-64 yrs 65+ yrs Total, 15+ yrs
1987 212,6 175,6 108,6 62,3 136,8
1988 195,7 164,8 108,6 63,6 130,5
1989 213,8 166,6 103,1 64,5 132,6
1990 188,2 155,4 101,1 62,9 123,5
1991 186,2 145,7 98,3 64,7 119,4
1992 187,7 142,5 94,5 66,9 117,7
1993 199,9 148,9 96,9 65,1 121,5
1994 223,1 155,3 101,9 67,9 128,8
1995 235,4 169,9 111,1 72,0 139,0
1996 243,2 161,5 107,5 65,9 134,3
1997 181,7 117,1 72,5 43,6 95,2
1998 206,5 124,3 80,9 42,4 103,0
1999 238,4 130,6 81,7 47,9 110,7
2000 245,1 132,3 87,7 52,6 115,0
2001 277,4 149,5 98,8 52,4 128,4
2002 285,5 143,5 92,7 51,3 125,7
2003 301,1 145,5 96,3 49,6 129,5
2004 324,5 146,2 100,5 54,3 135,9
2005 333,5 156,5 104,2 53,3 141,9
2006 342,1 159,5 103,5 51,8 144,0
2007 360,7 158,9 105,2 56,4 148,9
2008 355,5 166,6 107,6 55,9 151,4
2009 320,4 161,2 105,2 50,1 142,3
2010 292,6 145,5 101,6 51,8 132,3
2011 299,4 143,3 103,7 55,7 133,6
2012 292,8 151,0 106,3 56,1 135,2
2013 271,6 137,1 96,4 47,7 122,0
2014 257,3 133,0 88,0 51,3 116,6
2015 253,1 123,9 88,1 50,8 112,5
2016 250,5 122,0 91,2 51,2 112,1
2017 262,1 122,2 85,2 48,3 110,9
2018 244,2 113,3 78,8 50,5 104,0
2019 256,2 116,5 77,8 53,1 106,7
2020 260,1 110,3 75,8 53,1 104,5
2021 283,8 104,1 68,1 49,4 102,5
Five-year moving average suicide attempt rates (self-harm with determined intent and injuries with undetermined intent). Women, Sweden (1987-2021). Inpatient care only.
Five-year moving average suicide attempt rates (self-harm with determined intent and injuries with undetermined intent). Women, Sweden (1987-2021). Inpatient care only. Photo: Bianca Blazevska

Contact

If you have questions about the statistics or have other questions, please contact nasp[@]ki.se