It is reported to have an annual suicide rate of less than 6.5 per 100,000 - or fewer than 5070 deaths by suicide each year. Exactly how many Egyptians do commit suicide each year? Estimates are available, but there are no definitive statistics.
According to a report published in a leading state-owned newspaper (June 2010 ) which cited numbers issued by the government body, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization And Statistics, a total of 1160 suicides were reported in the year 2005, followed by 2355 in 2006, with the number rising to 3700 in 2007. In 2008 approximately 4,000 Egyptians took their own lives, while 50,000 attempted suicides were reported in that same year. In 2009 an estimated 5000 Egyptians killed themselves--and another 104,000 suicide attempts were reported. The report does not include a breakdown of the numbers by age or gender.
These statistics are particularly shocking in comparison to those issued by the Egyptian State in 1987. Only a quarter of a century ago, Egypt officially registered an annual suicide rate of 0.1 out of 100,000--all males, no females took their own lives. According to the demographics of that time, this translates into around only 24 deaths by suicide each year.
Commenting on these numbers, Dr. Mohamed Rakha, a psychiatric physician at the Abbasiya Hospital for Mental Illness said that the statistics were plausible. He explained that psychiatric doctors have noted an increased rate of suicides. “Medical studies indicate a definite increase in the number of people contemplating suicide over the past few years, and we are personally dealing with more people who have attempted suicide. But we are a long way from having a complete picture of Egypt's suicide problem.”
According to Rakha, there are no precise statistics available because many cases of suicide are not officially documented. “Very often families of suicide victims seek to cover-up, or to avoid mentioning that a family member has taken their own life.” He added that there are serious moral and religious stigmas involved, “Families do not want people to remember that their son or daughter died as a so-called apostate. Covering up a suicide is often perceived as the only way to preserve the reputation of the deceased, and the reputation of the family.”
An official from the Ministry of Health, who withheld his name because he is not authorized to speak to the media, told Al-Masry Al-Youm, "The data pertaining to the annual numbers of suicides cannot be verified. There are numerous reasons--religious, cultural, and societal--why information about suicides is kept hidden." The official went on to say, "Suicides and suicide attempts throughout the Arab World are under reported. The statistics available do not reflect the reality or the magnitude of this massive problem."
Film-maker Maggie Morgan examined this issue in her 2009 documentary entitled “Village Suicides.” Her field study and film revolves around Mair, a predominantly Coptic village near the City of Assiut, in Upper Egypt. In this marginalized village with a population of 10,000, Morgan documented 45 deaths by suicide the year 2008 alone. According to the filmmaker, "There are hardly any jobs in Mair. There is no industry, no entertainment, and an extremely rigid structure of social, religious, and familial control." Numerous villagers are attempting to escape these confines and travel abroad for work or immigration – generally either to the Arab Gulf or the United States.
Those who find themselves unable to leave have frequently resorted to ending their lives by swallowing a pill --intended for use as an agricultural insecticide. "The poison is extremely lethal and fast-acting; one pill can kill in less than half an hour." Morgan added that authorities recently moved to ban the sale of this insecticide, in its pill form, when it was discovered that people were using it to commit suicide.
Cases of suicide, and suicide attempts, are increasingly being covered in local newspapers. Suicides have been reported amongst Christians and Muslims, singles and married people, teachers and students, the employed and those without work, staff and bosses. An international press report mentioned that Egypt's National Center for Toxins had registered approximately 2,700 attempted suicides committed by single women in 2009 alone.
