Germany Records Highest Annual Suicide Toll Since 1998

By Staff, Agencies

Germany recorded 11,334 suicide deaths in 2025, the highest annual total in nearly three decades, according to the Federal Statistical Office. The figures have prompted renewed debate over the country’s assisted-suicide framework, with some experts linking the increase to the expansion of services that help people end their lives.

Data released earlier this month and analyzed by Germany’s National Suicide Prevention Program (NaSPro) on Wednesday showed that suicides increased by 962 cases, or 9.3%, compared with 2024. The annual total reached its highest level since 1998.

According to the report, the number of suicides exceeded the approximately 7,677 deaths attributed collectively to traffic accidents, homicides, illegal-drug-related causes and AIDS.

Men accounted for 69.2% of suicide deaths, while the annual total has risen by 23% since 2021. Nevertheless, the figure remains below the historical peak of 18,825 recorded in 1981.

Although men accounted for most deaths, the increase was disproportionately concentrated among women, whose suicide deaths rose by 17.9%, compared with 5.8% among men. People over the age of 50 accounted for 73.7% of all cases.

Hanging remained the most common method, accounting for 4,145 deaths, followed by medication-related deaths, which rose sharply from 2,002 cases in 2024 to 2,848 in 2025. The latter category accounted for nearly 88% of the overall annual increase, according to the report.

The figures also highlighted rising suicide deaths among young people. Among girls aged 15 to 19, the number increased from 52 in 2024 to 84 in 2025, while the overall number of teenage suicides rose from 188 to 208. Suicide accounted for approximately 18% of all deaths among people aged five to 24.

Although the government has not provided a definitive explanation for the increase, several experts have pointed to the growth of assisted-suicide services, which are not separately identified in official mortality statistics.

Three major organizations providing such services reported 1,287 assisted deaths in 2025, up from 977 in 2024 and 346 in 2021.

Germany’s legal framework permits assisted suicide for people who are not terminally ill, provided the decision is voluntary, informed and enduring.

No one is legally required to provide assistance, while euthanasia involving another person directly performing the life-ending act remains illegal.

Ulrich Hegerl, chairman of the German Depression Aid and Suicide Prevention Foundation, criticized what he described as Germany’s “extreme position” on assisted suicide, warning that normalizing it as a service could lower barriers and contribute to preventable deaths.

Suicide researcher Ute Lewitzka of Goethe University Frankfurt offered a broader explanation, describing the increase as a potential crisis phenomenon.

She cited financial hardship, uncertainty and the possible influence of social media as factors that could intensify suicidal thoughts among vulnerable people. Lewitzka also criticized what she described as inadequate access to psychological care in Germany.