Malta has a low suicide rate but, unlike other European countries, there was an increase in the number of people ending their lives since the 1980s, according to research.

The study, published in the Malta Medical Journal, notes that Malta is the only European country where the highest suicide rates were recorded in the 2000s.

“In Malta, the suicide rates of males and females were 70 and nine times higher during... 2005-2009 than they were in 1980-1984,” according to the study.

This meant that, in the case of Malta, suicide rates increased in the 1980s but, unlike several other European countries, it did not experience a decline during the 1990s and 2000s.

Numbers in Malta are too small to have any statistical significance

Contacted about the findings, psychiatrist Anton Grech said that, judging by his experience, suicide rates in Malta were stable. He cautioned that one had to be careful when interpreting the numbers for Malta because, unlike larger countries, the numbers were too small to have any statistical significance.

Figures released by the police last year showed that 22 people committed suicide in Malta in 2013. There were 131 victims of suicide between 2009 and 2013. The majority of victims – 120 – were men.

The study – entitled ‘Suicide rates in Maltese islands (1955-2009) analysed in European context using WHO data’ – confirmed the international trend whereby men were more likely to end their lives.

It compared suicide rates in 11 European countries: Austria, Finland, France, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.

Suicide rates were computed from the World Health Organisation database and looked at suicide rates (per 100,000 people) between 1955 and 2009.

The study showed that suicide mortality appeared to rise from the 1950s until the 1980s, after which several counties exhibited a decline towards the 2000s.

Becoming aware of the suicidal behaviour may help at building a programme to mitigate situation

But, in the case of Malta, while suicides remained very low in number, the highest rates among both males and females were recorded in the periods 2005 to 2009 and 2000 to 2004, respectively.

Between 1980 and 1984, the suicide rates for males and females per 100,000 people in Malta stood at 0.134 and 0.111, respectively. This rose to 9.845 and 1.208 in the period covering 2005 to 2009.

Although suicide rates on the island remained at considerably low levels, they exhibited a notable increase towards the present time, whereas the European suicide rates were in decline.

“Considerations present here imply that becoming aware of the suicidal behaviour at national level may help at building a suicide programme to mitigate the situation,” the study concluded.