14.85
per 100,000 people, 2020
Low trust, 47 of 100 The sources disagree: their figures run from 0.35 to 14.85.
- WHO register
- WHO estimate
Show the data as a table
| Year | WHO Mortality Database, deaths by intentional self-harm | WHO Global Health Estimates 2023, self-harm |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 0.32 | – |
| 1997 | 0.23 | – |
| 1998 | 0.4 | – |
| 1999 | 0.61 | – |
| 2000 | 0.57 | 13.71 |
| 2001 | 0.81 | 13.68 |
| 2002 | 0.49 | 14.2 |
| 2003 | 0.53 | 14.82 |
| 2004 | 0.79 | 14.5 |
| 2005 | 0.94 | 14.61 |
| 2006 | 1.03 | 15.13 |
| 2007 | 0.87 | 15.6 |
| 2008 | 0.91 | 15.84 |
| 2009 | 0.75 | 15.96 |
| 2010 | 0.77 | 15.61 |
| 2011 | 0.7 | 15.65 |
| 2012 | 0.94 | 16.13 |
| 2013 | 1.11 | 15.62 |
| 2014 | 1.08 | 15.5 |
| 2015 | 0.88 | 15.93 |
| 2016 | 0.75 | 16.08 |
| 2017 | 0.65 | 15.93 |
| 2018 | 0.54 | 15.53 |
| 2019 | 0.73 | 15.77 |
| 2020 | 0.35 | 14.85 |
| 2021 | – | 15.17 |
| 2022 | – | 15.04 |
| 2023 | – | 15.28 |
All countriesAll of South Africa's figuresCompare
South Africa among 204 countries
21 have a higher figure and 182 a lower one. Definitions differ between countries, and their years run from 2010 to 2024.
What this number counts
- Counts
- Deaths by suicide per 100,000 people (crude rate, all ages, both sexes)
- Where
- South Africa
- When
- 2020 (one year, not an average)
Where the number comes from (2 sources)
| Source | Figure and year | Definition | Quality | Counts for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
WHO Mortality Database, deaths by intentional self-harmWorld Health Organization (WHO) · Death and health registersRetrieved 2026-10-25 | 0.352020 | Registered deaths with underlying cause intentional self-harm, ICD-10 X60-X84, all ages and both sexes, divided by the population in WHO's population file for the same year.Crude rate: deaths of all ages and both sexes divided by the whole population, not adjusted for age, so that the lines can be compared. Codes used: ICD-10 3-character codes X60-X84. Years where a country reports only a total for all external causes have no value. National rows only, no sub-national or partial-coverage rows. Year rule: the latest year both the register and WHO's estimate have is 2020, which is 2018 or later, so they use it. Half weight: more deaths are coded as undetermined intent than as self-harm in this year, so this line is close to the defined number but cannot be converted to it. Raw files: morticd10_part1-6.zip (211 self-harm deaths) and mort_pop.zip. WHO publishes the data as the country sent them and does not adjust for incomplete registration. The same file records 2603 deaths of undetermined intent (Y10-Y34) for this year; some of these may be deaths by suicide. | 4 of 5 checks
| 40% |
WHO Global Health Estimates 2023, self-harmWorld Health Organization (WHO) · Model-based estimateRetrieved 2026-11-02 | 14.852020 | Estimated deaths from self-harm (GHE cause 1610: ICD-10 X60-X84 and Y87.0), all ages and both sexes, per 100,000 people.Crude rate: deaths of all ages and both sexes divided by the whole population, not adjusted for age, so that the lines can be compared. WHO did not use this country's death registration data for the estimate (its methods paper, Table 4.1, rates those data "medium" in quality), so the figure rests mainly on modelling from other data. WHO gives a range of 6298 to 12639 deaths around its central estimate of 8993 for this year. Year rule: the latest year both the register and WHO's estimate have is 2020, which is 2018 or later, so they use it. Raw file: ghe_full_self_harm.json, WHO DEX_CMS API, table GHE_FULL, loaded by WHO on 21-22 September 2026. The rate equals WHO's estimated deaths divided by its population figure. Years after a country's last usable register year are extrapolated (methods paper, section 4.1). | 3 of 5 checks
| 60% |
- WHO register40%
- WHO estimate60%
How the trust score was worked out
- Quality27.2 / 40
How well the sources are made
- Agreement0 / 30
How close the sources are to each other
- Independence16 / 20
How many separate ways the number was measured
- Freshness4 / 10
How recent the newest data is
Who reports it, and since when
figure no figure here, inside its range no later figure recorded change
Why the numbers differ
- Every line uses the crude rate (all deaths divided by the whole population), so the lines can agree. Crude rates also reflect how old a population is, so they are not the same as age-standardised rates.
- The register line counts only deaths coded X60-X84. Deaths coded as undetermined intent (Y10-Y34) stay outside it, and in 72 countries they equal 25% or more of the self-harm count in the year shown, so how intent is coded changes the rate. Each such line says so. (source, retrieved 2026-10-25)
- WHO's estimate adjusts the register: it reassigns ill-defined deaths, moves some deaths of undetermined intent into causes that include self-harm, and scales totals to its all-cause estimates. Its cause group also adds Y87.0. For countries with no usable register the figure comes from modelling. (source, retrieved 2026-11-02)
- Registration coverage differs. Where many deaths are never registered or have no medically certified cause, the register rate counts only part of the deaths. WHO's estimate can sit above or below the register rate in such countries, because it also rests on modelling.
- Recording rules differ between countries. WHO notes that stigma, and the illegal status of suicidal behaviour in some countries, make under-reporting and misclassification likely. These are differences in how deaths are recorded; the page does not explain the rates themselves. (source, retrieved 2026-11-02)
- Eurostat and the WHO register hold the same national death records, as their death counts show. Eurostat adds Y87.0, counts residents who died abroad and uses its own population, so its rate can differ slightly. It is shown but not counted as a separate source. (source, retrieved 2026-11-02)
Common mistakes
- National suicide statistics can use another definition. For England and Wales, the Office for National Statistics adds deaths of undetermined intent at ages 15 and over and counts self-harm from age 10, so its figures do not match the WHO register line here. (source, retrieved 2026-11-02)
- In countries with small populations a few deaths move the rate a lot, so a single year says little about the level, and WHO blanks very small counts in some files.
- Ranking countries on a modelled figure overstates what is known. WHO itself warns against over-interpreting detailed rankings of deaths by cause or country (methods paper, section 8). (source, retrieved 2026-11-02)
Download, cite and report an error
From the table What is the suicide rate in each country? Updated 2026-11-02.
Download every value in this table (CSV)
Cite as: RealStats, “Suicide rate in South Africa”, updated 2026-11-02, with the original sources listed on the page.