Table 1.
Counts of suicide deaths (N = 560) according to gender, age, mode of death classification (violent versus non-violent), district of residence and season over four time periods in 2004–2020
| 2004–2020a | 2004–2008 | 2009–2012 | 2013–2016 | 2017–2020 | P-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gender | ||||||
| Male | 452 (80.7%) | 76 (73.1%) | 117 (83.6%) | 133 (80.6%) | 126 (83.4%) | |
| Female | 108 (19.3%) | 28 (26.9%) | 23 (16.4%) | 32 (19.4%) | 25 (16.6%) | 0.15 |
| Age group by gender | ||||||
| Males (two missing information) | ||||||
| 15–24 years | 69 (15.3%) | 10 (13.2%) | 18 (15.5%) | 20 (15.0%) | 21 (16.8%) | |
| 24–44 years | 174 (38.7%) | 34 (44.7%) | 48 (41.4%) | 50 (37.6%) | 42 (33.6%) | |
| 45–64 years | 151 (33.6%) | 24 (31.6%) | 35 (30.2%) | 43 (32.3%) | 49 (39.2%) | |
| Over 65 years | 56 (12.4%) | 8 (10.5%) | 15 (12.9%) | 20 (15.0%) | 13 (10.4%) | 0.80 |
| Females | ||||||
| 15–24 years | 12 (11.1%) | 1 (3.6%) | 4 (17.4%) | 4 (12.5%) | 3 (12.0%) | |
| 25–44 years | 43 (39.8%) | 12 (42.9%) | 8 (34.8%) | 13 (40.6%) | 10 (40.0%) | |
| 45–64 years | 43 (39.8%) | 13 (46.4%) | 9 (39.1%) | 12 (37.5%) | 9 (36.0%) | |
| Over 65 years | 10 (9.3%) | 2 (7.1%) | 2 (8.7%) | 3 (9.4%) | 3 (12.0%) | 0.95 |
| Mode of death classification by gender | ||||||
| Males | ||||||
| Violent | 405 (89.6%) | 60 (79.9%) | 100 (85.5%) | 125 (94.0%) | 120 (95.2%) | |
| Non-violent | 47 (10.4%) | 16 (21.1%) | 17 (14.5%) | 8 (6.0%) | 6 (4.8%) | <0.001 |
| Females | ||||||
| Violent | 86 (76.6%) | 20 (71.4%) | 18 (78.3%) | 28 (87.5%) | 20 (80.0%) | |
| Non-violent | 22 (20.4%) | 8 (21.7%) | 5 (21.7%) | 4 (12.5%) | 5 (20.0%) | 0.49 |
| Method of suicide by gender | ||||||
| Males | ||||||
| Hanging | 183 (40.5%) | 23 (30.3%) | 44 (37.6%) | 54 (40.6%) | 62 (49.2%) | |
| Drowning | 3 (0.7%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 1 (0.8%) | 2 (1.6%) | |
| Firearms/explosives | 111 (24.6%) | 19 (25.0%) | 30 (25.6%) | 36 (27.1%) | 26 (20.6%) | |
| Jumping from height | 67 (14.8%) | 9 (11.8%) | 17 (14.5%) | 24 (18.1%) | 17 (13.5%) | |
| Pesticides | 32 (7.31%) | 12 (15.8%) | 11 (9.4%) | 5 (3.8%) | 4 (3.2%) | |
| Other poisons | 19 (4.2%) | 4 (5.3%) | 9 (7.7%) | 4 (3.0%) | 2 (1.6%) | |
| Other method | 37 (8.2%) | 9 (11.8%) | 6 (5.1%) | 9 (6.8%) | 13 (10.3%) | 0.01 |
| Females | ||||||
| Hanging | 33 (30.6%) | 7 (25.0%) | 5 (21.7%) | 12 (37.5%) | 9 (36.0%) | |
| Drowning | 5 (4.6%) | 1 (3.6%) | 2 (8.7%) | 1 (3.1%) | 1 (4.0%) | |
| Firearms/explosives | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | |
| Jumping from height | 39 (36.1%) | 9 (32.1%) | 9 (39.1%) | 14 (43.8%) | 7 (28.0%) | |
| Pesticides | 9 (8.3%) | 6 (21.4%) | 2 (8.7%) | 1 (3.1%) | 0 (0.0%) | |
| Other poisons | 13 (12.0%) | 2 (7.1%) | 3 (13.0%) | 3 (9.4%) | 5 (20.0%) | |
| Other method | 9 (8.3%) | 3 (10.7%) | 2 (8.7%) | 1 (3.1%) | 3 (12.0%) | 0.35 |
| District of permanent residenceb | ||||||
| Nicosia | 172 (34.3%) | 25 (28.7%) | 41 (34.5%) | 57 (37.0%) | 49 (34.8%) | |
| Limassol | 144 (28.7%) | 34 (39.1%) | 31 (26.1%) | 42 (27.3%) | 37 (26.2%) | |
| Larnaca | 85 (17.0%) | 16 (18.4%) | 23 (19.3%) | 25 (16.2%) | 21 (14.9%) | |
| Paphos | 69 (13.8%) | 11 (12.6%) | 16 (13.5%) | 18 (11.7%) | 24 (17.0%) | |
| Famagusta | 31 (6.2%) | 1 (1.2%) | 8 (6.7%) | 12 (7.8%) | 10 (7.1%) | 0.44 |
| Non-permanent | 32 (6.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 14 (10.5%) | 11 (6.7%) | 7 (4.7%) | 0.07 |
| Season – both genders | ||||||
| Winter | 114 (20.4%) | 28 (26.9%) | 25 (17.9%) | 30 (18.2%) | 31 (20.5%) | |
| Spring | 149 (26.6%) | 20 (19.2%) | 48 (34.3%) | 39 (23.6%) | 42 (27.8%) | |
| Summer | 161 (28.8%) | 27 (26.0%) | 30 (21.4%) | 60 (36.4%) | 44 (29.1%) | |
| Autumn | 136 (24.3%) | 29 (27.9%) | 37 (26.4%) | 36 (21.8%) | 34 (22.5%) | 0.06 |
| Season – males | ||||||
| Winter | 98 (21.7%) | 23 (30.3%) | 24 (20.5%) | 27 (20.3%) | 24 (19.1%) | |
| Spring | 121 (26.8%) | 12 (15.8%) | 39 (33.3%) | 31 (23.3%) | 39 (31.0%) | |
| Summer | 128 (28.3%) | 18 (23.7%) | 25 (21.4%) | 50 (37.6%) | 35 (27.8%) | |
| Autumn | 105 (23.2%) | 23 (30.3%) | 29 (24.8%) | 25 (18.8%) | 28 (22.2%) | 0.02 |
| Season – females | ||||||
| Winter | 16 (14.8%) | 5 (17.9%) | 1 (4.4%) | 3 (9.4%) | 7 (28.0%) | |
| Spring | 28 (25.9%) | 8 (28.6%) | 9 (39.1%) | 8 (25.0%) | 3 (12.0%) | |
| Summer | 33 (30.6%) | 9 (32.1%) | 5 (21.7%) | 10 (31.3%) | 9 (36.0%) | |
| Autumn | 31 (28.7%) | 6 (21.4%) | 8 (34.8%) | 11 (34.4%) | 6 (24.0%) | 0.26 |
a.
Not including an additional 32 and 18 deaths in men and women respectively coded as ‘of undetermined intent’.
b.
Not including 37 events with unknown or incomplete information. Furthermore, 32 were classified as non-permanent residents and hence were included as a separate category. According to the 2021 census, the distribution of population by district is as follows: Nicosia 38%, Limassol 28%, Larnaca 17%, Paphos 11% and Famagusta 6%. In 2011, the equivalent figures were: 39%, 28%, 17%, 10% and 5%, respectively.