France- The Surprising Truth
Every day in France an average of 21 men and eight women take their own lives and around 700 attempt it.
Every year around 220,000 people in France attempt to take their own life and 10,000 of those die as a result. These alarming statistics mean that the number of suicides in France is more than double that of the UK and Spain.
Statistics for 2009 show the European Union average for the number of suicides per 100,000 inhabitants stood at 16.8 for men and 4.4 for women. However in France the number of suicides stood at 23.5 and 7.5 respectively.
Statistics show that the majority of people who kill themselves in France are aged between 35 and 64, and the rate increases with age.
Male farmers in France are 20 percent more likely to take their own lives than the rest of the population.
The French suicide rate is over twice that in Britain and 40% higher than in Germany and America.
A recent mental-health survey suggested that two-fifths of French people suffer from serious depression at some point in their lives.