Minister of Citizen Protection Mr. Christos Papoutsis presented a report to the Greek parliament on January 11 concerning deaths by suicide and attempted suicides in the country, confirming the already gloomy picture painted in the previous months.
A total of 1,727 suicides and attempted suicide incidents have been recorded since the Greek debt crisis broke out in 2009. This means that numbers have increased by 22.5% within the past three years, i.e. from 507 in 2009 to 622 in 2010 and to 598 on December 10, 2011.
The ministry report underlines the necessity of facing the phenomenon as a matter of emergency, and called on all relevant social authorities and services to do their best in order to help both people displaying such behavior and their families.
Going through its fifth consecutive year of recession, Greece now has one of the highest percentages of suicides in the EU, while before the crisis it only accounted for 2.8% of EU deaths by suicide.
The austerity measures, unemployment, taxes, insecurity and social unrest are the main causes behind this sharp rise in suicides.
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