Figures released today by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show suicide killed more people than road traffic accidents last year.
There were 448 suicides and 366 deaths from road traffic accidents in the Republic in 2001.
The level of suicide represents 24 per cent of deaths in the 15-24 age group. This makes it the second-biggest cause of death in this age group. Males comprised 79 per cent of suicides.
The biggest cause of death in the 15-24 age group at 29 per cent was from road traffic accidents. Of the 366 such deaths, 78 per cent were male and 22 per cent female.
The report reveals 29,800 deaths were registered in 2001, a fall of 1,300 on the 2000 figure. This corresponds to a rate of 7.8 persons per 1,000 population. According to the CSO, this decrease is largely due to a drop in deaths during the first quarter of 2001.
Other figures revealed in today’s report include:
- There were 337 infant deaths and the infant mortality rate of 5.8 per 1,000 live births was 0.1 below that in 2000. This is above the European average of 4.9.
- Deaths from cancer totaled 7,600, which is 25 per cent of all deaths. Over 71 per cent of all cancer deaths occurred in the 65 and over age group.
- There were 35 deaths due to homicide registered in 2001, 80 per cent of which were males.
