Suicide in Russia

History

In the Russian Empire and for a long time in the USSR, a complete record of suicides was not kept. The studies covered individual cities or regions and later the urban population. In 1956, under Nikita Khrushchev, the USSR began to collect data on suicides for the entire population of the country. In May 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev came to power, and the anti-alcohol campaign with partial prohibition began almost simultaneously. For a couple of years, the number of suicides fell, but the deterioration of the socio-economic situation of the country by the end of the 1980s reversed the trend.

The dissolution of the Soviet Union, market reforms, the First Chechen War, and falling incomes among the population resulted in an increase in suicide mortality, reaching peak levels in 1994 and 1995.

During the last years, as a consequence of the change in the culture of alcohol consumption in the country, Russians began to consume more beer, wine, and other drinks with less alcohol. The decline in strong and popular vodka sales is similar to the decrease in the number of suicides in the country.

At the end of 2015, suicide rates rated as high were recorded in 37 of the 85 regions. These are, above all, the regions in the north, the Urals, Siberia, and the Russian Far East. The highest suicide rates were in the Altai Republic, the Transbaikal, the Jewish Autonomous Oblast, Buryatia, and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, with large indigenous populations. Eighteen regions have a suicide rate classified as low, including the two main cities of Russia: Moscow and Saint Petersburg.

Suicide rate per 100 000 population{ "version": 2, "width": 600, "height": 300, "data": [ { "name": "table", "values": [ { "x": 1980, "y": 34.6 }, { "x": 1985, "y": 31.2 }, { "x": 1990, "y": 26.5 }, { "x": 1995, "y": 41 }, { "x": 2000, "y": 39 }, { "x": 2010, "y": 23 }, { "x": 2015, "y": 17 }, { "x": 2016, "y": 15 }, { "x": 2017, "y": 13 }, { "x": 2018, "y": 12 } ] } ], "scales": [ { "name": "x", "type": "linear", "range": "width", "zero": false, "domain": { "data": "table", "field": "x" } }, { "name": "y", "type": "linear", "range": "height", "nice": true, "domain": { "data": "table", "field": "y" } } ], "axes": [ { "type": "x", "scale": "x" }, { "type": "y", "scale": "y" } ], "marks": [ { "type": "area", "from": { "data": "table" }, "properties": { "enter": { "x": { "scale": "x", "field": "x" }, "y": { "scale": "y", "field": "y" }, "y2": { "scale": "y", "value": 0 }, "interpolate": { "value": "monotone" }, "fill": { "value": "steelblue" } } } } ], "padding": { "top": 30, "bottom": 30, "left": 30, "right": 30 } }

Alcohol and suicide

Heavy alcohol use is a significant factor in the suicide rate, with an estimated half of all suicides correlated with alcohol abuse. Russia's suicide rate has declined since the 1990s, alongside per capita alcohol consumption, despite the economic crisis since then; therefore it is believed that alcohol consumption is more of a factor than economic conditions.

References

References

1. "Suicide mortality rate (per 100 000 population), Official estimate updated 8 January 2024".
2. "Fedstat Смертность от самоубийств (3.4.2.)".
3. "Russian statistical yearbook. 2018 (in Russian and English)". [[Rosstat]].
4. (2020). "Russian statistical yearbook 2019". [[Rosstat]].
5. "Россия передумала умирать".
6. (1985). "Об усилении борьбы с пьянством (в редакции Указа Президиума Верховного Совета СССР от 29 мая 1987 года N 7104-XI) (не применяется на территории РФ с 01.07.2002), Указ Президиума Верховного Совета СССР от 16 мая 1985 года №2458-XI".
7. Brainerd, Elizabeth. (1 May 2001). "Economic reform and mortality in the former Soviet Union: A study of the suicide epidemic in the 1990s". European Economic Review.
8. Иванович, Ворошилин Сергей. (2012). "Алкогольный фактор среди причин роста самоубийств в СССР и в постсоветстких государствах". Суицидология.
9. (22 July 2016). "Alcohol and suicide in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug and Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia". International Journal of Circumpolar Health.
10. "Suicide rates (per 100,000), by gender, Russian Federation, 1980-2006".
11. (2006). "Heavy Drinking and Suicide in Russia". National Institutes of Health.
12. [http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2010/0427/analit05.php Demoscope - Demographic, social and economic consequences of alcohol abuse in Russia] [[Demoscope]] Retrieved on 6 July 2010