National vital statistics systems are the primary sources of country-specific suicide mortality statistics. These statistics are derived from a death certificate, the format and procedures for completing differ by regional laws and practices. The listing of a cause of death on a death certificate is influenced by many factors, including cultural factors, availability of an informant, provisions regarding confidentiality of the cause of death, and local laws governing forensic investigation. Death rates may also be affected by the age structure of a population and any temporal trends within age subgroups. In general, any suicide rate may be underestimated. For example, suicide rates generally exclude those aged <10 years (aged <15 years in the UK) because intent for self-harm is typically not attributed to young children. Thus, when interpreting suicide rates, it is important to keep in mind how these factors could influence the rate and use caution in interpreting rates across countries.

The World Health Organization (WHO) compiles suicide statistics by country. Data, search tools, and reports can be obtained through the Global Health Observation (GHO) at http://ww.who.int/GHO/. Data from the WHO reveal that suicide is a worldwide health problem with more than 800,000 people worldwide dying every year from suicide.

In the U.S., WISQARS ^TM (Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System) is an interactive database system that provides customized reports of suicide and other injury-related data. Suicide was the 10th leading cause of death among all ages and the leading cause of injury death in 2012. In Canada, CANSIM is a data base updated daily which provides the latest statistics for Canada, including health conditions. Suicide mortality data by age, gender, and year are available as downloadable tables.

In addition to recording death information in a vital records system, some countries and organizations have specialized surveillance systems or registries for obtaining more detailed information about a suicide event and its causes. In the U.S., surveillance data is obtained through the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS). This system links information from death certificates, medical examiners, law enforcement, and forensic laboratories. Circumstances surrounding the suicide by age group, such as depressed mood, declining health, and disclosure of suicidal intent are compiled. The U.S. Department of Defense has a similar system and employs a more standardized and detailed collection of medical, military, and personal history information as a potential model for other organizations (Gahm et al. 2012). The National Suicide Registry in Malaysia also engages psychiatrics and staff members of psychiatric and mental health departments for the collection of the information on the demographics of the decedent, characteristics of the suicidal act, and risk factors (Hayati et al. 2008). The National Poison Data System is a near real-time surveillance database tracking poisonings and their sources in the U.S. Information is collected from calls b the public and health professionals to poison centers nationwide, consolidated, and evaluate Suspected suicide fatal (and non-fatal) cases are among the human exposure cases analyzed The system is maintained by the American Association of Poison Control Centers (www.​aapcc.​org) with annual reports published in the journal Clinical Toxicology.

There is marked variation in suicide rates by age, sex, race/ethnicity, and geographic region.

By age group, among the highest suicide rates are noted to occur in midlife in Canada, the U.K., and the U.S. Suicide rates by age reveal a peak in adolescence in the U.S. (ONS 2014; Navaneelan 2012) (Fig. 2.2). In the U.S., the rates of suicide exceed homicide rates for all age groups except for the age groups of 18–24, where the homicide rate exceeds the suicide rate and for under age 10, where suicide rates are not reported (Fig. 2.2). In contrast, the highest suicides rates across European nations, the highest suicide rates are reported among people aged 65+ (21.9 per 100,000 population and those aged 45–59 (21.5 per 100,000 population) (WHO 2014). Higher rates have been reported among those aged 85 years and older in China ranging from 68.41 per 100,000 in large cities to 191.74 per 100,000 in rural areas (Simon et al. 2013).

The male predominance of suicide (as much as three times higher than females) is noted for all age groups across all nations with the exception in China, where overall it is higher among females (Table 2.2).