Key Points

• Emergency department activity:

  • Suicidal ideation: A decrease in the number of visits and the share of activity was observed in Corsica in 2020, followed by a slight increase in 2021, and finally a sharp increase in May–June 2022. By gender, the shares of activity observed were broadly equivalent between 2017 and 2022.

  • Suicidal acts: A decrease in the number of visits and activity shares was observed in Corsica in 2020, followed by a slight increase in late 2020–early 2021, and finally another decrease in 2022. However, the activity shares observed among women were higher than those observed among men.

  • The analysis did not show any significant change in activity related to suicidal ideation or attempts in emergency departments between the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods in Corsica, except among 11- to 24-year-olds, where activity related to suicidal ideation increased.

  • By department, the rates of activity for suicide attempts in 2021 in emergency departments were generally similar across the island and were slightly higher than those observed at the national level.

  • Among 11- to 24-year-olds, activity related to suicidal ideation and suicide attempts increased for 11- to 17-year-olds between the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods, but among 18- to 24-year-olds, it decreased only for suicide attempts. For this indicator, an increase in activity is observed among young women, and a decrease among young men.

• Hospitalizations for suicide attempts:

  • A decrease in hospitalization rates for suicide attempts was observed between 2010 and 2019, with rates among women higher than those observed among men (approximately two-thirds of women each year). Nevertheless, the decrease in rates was more pronounced among women than men on the island, with the gap between the two sexes narrowing over time.

  • The rates were significantly lower than those observed at the national level, where rates have stabilized since 2013. The gap between the rates observed in Corsica and in France is widening.

  • By age group, the highest hospitalization rates were found among women under 30 and those aged 50–59, and among men aged 20–59, though the rates observed among men were still lower than those observed among women.

  • The most frequently reported method of suicide was drug overdose, regardless of gender, as was the case nationally. In-hospital mortality, however, was higher than that observed in France, and it was higher among men than among women, and among older individuals.

  • During the pandemic (2020–2021), hospitalization rates stabilized among men, while they increased among women. The most affected age group remained those aged 25–64, the primary method of suicide was hanging, and in-hospital mortality remained low.

  • By department, the two departments on the island had some of the lowest rates in France for both genders before the pandemic (2017–2019) and during it (2021).

• Suicide mortality:

  • Between 2000 and 2017, suicide mortality rates were declining. However, while these rates did decrease among men, they remained generally stable among women. Unlike hospitalizations, mortality rates were higher among men than among women, with the gap between the two genders also narrowing over time.

  • By age group, the sample sizes in Corsica were too small to identify trends, but over the 2015–2017 period, among men, those aged 40–59 constituted the majority. Among women, the sample sizes were too small to conduct an analysis by age group.

  • The most frequently reported method of suicide was hanging, but the frequency in Corsica was lower than that observed nationally; the second most common method was the use of a firearm, where the frequency was higher than the national average.

  • By department, in 2017, the rates observed in Southern Corsica were higher than those in Northern Corsica, but they remained lower than the national rate and were in the lower range of rates observed across all French departments.