Suicide mortality among women in Finland has declined over the course of the 2000s, but the latest statistics suggest a reversal of that trend.
The loss of years of life due to female suicides has started to increase, according to a recent report by the Finnish Consulting Group (FCG).
While premature mortality among men remains about 2.3 times higher than among women, experts say the shift in female outcomes is cause for concern.
The change is a signal of deepening distress, according to Virpi Pitkänen, a specialist at FCG, which based its analysis years of life lost due to premature mortality in Finland between 2020 and 2024.
Each year, the country loses roughly 230,000 potential years of life to early death. Of these, about 73 percent — or approximately 170,000 years — are considered avoidable.
The findings are based on the Potential Years of Life Lost indicator, which measures how many years of life are lost relative to a reference life expectancy of 75 years. The metric is widely used internationally to determine premature mortality.
Pitkänen said the combined impact of alcohol, drugs and suicide shows no clear sign of abating. Alcohol, drugs and suicide form what researchers describe as a 'triangle of despair' in Finland. Alcohol-related deaths remain the single largest preventable driver of premature mortality in Finland.
While alcohol-attributable losses among men have declined since the early 2000s, deaths linked to drug use have increased over the same period. Despite this shift, alcohol still accounts for roughly a quarter more lost years of life than drugs.
According to Statistics Finland, the number of female suicides has fluctuated annually during the 2020s. In 2024, 184 women committed suicide, compared to 197 in the previous year.
Correction, 12.32pm, 23 May: Replaced headline which incorrectly said that more women are taking their own lives, added Statistics Finland figures and explanation that the loss of years of life due to female suicides has started to increase.
