Share of population who once thought of suicide in Belgium 2004-2018
From 2004 to 2018, the share of Belgians who have contemplated suicide at least once in their life increased overall. In 2018, roughly 14 percent of the Belgian population has had suicidal thoughts at least once. Although suicide figures are often controversial and hard to measure, they are used as an indirect indicator of the mental health status of a population. Suicide can be the result of various psychological, sociologic, and demographic factors, such as periods of crisis due to separations or loss, but also alcohol and drug abuse, unemployment, depression, or other forms of mental illness.
