Argentina faces a record rise in suicides

Families of suicide victims and mental health specialists in Argentina are raising the alarm following recent statistics showing a historic peak in suicides in the country, which has become the leading cause of death for 15-34 year olds.

According to data from the Observatory of Criminal Policy (OPC) and the Ministry of Security, suicides in Argentina reached 5,209 recorded cases in 2025, a 22.6% increase compared to the previous year. With 11.8 suicides per 100,000 inhabitants, Argentina remains far behind a country like Uruguay (19%). But it is the trend that is worrying. Since the OPC began counting suicides in 2017, cases have increased by 57.6%, with a marked rise since 2021 in the wake of the pandemic.

A few days ago, the Argentine Mental Health Association (AASM) expressed its deep concern about what it calls a "serious health and social situation." "Suicide is a complex and multi-causal phenomenon, and it would be irresponsible [...] to establish linear causal relationships," the AASM insists. "But it would be equally irresponsible to ignore the social, economic, and professional conditions [...] in which this suffering occurs," it adds. Among other things, it cites job loss, precarious employment, debt, and difficulties in providing for daily life, which affect "relationships and future expectations."

Demonstration in Buenos Aires

In Buenos Aires, several hundred people, including many relatives of those who have died by suicide, demonstrated last weekend in front of the Parliament building to "raise awareness about suicide, because talking about it is preventing it," Graciela Salazar, the mother of a child who died by suicide in 2023, told AFP. "Suicide has multiple causes," insisted Ariana Villarreal, the sister of a deceased person who died by suicide. "But it's a fact that there is a historical debt to mental health in Argentina," she added, denouncing the fact that only a tiny fraction of the health budget is actually allocated to mental health, far less than the 10% stipulated by a 2010 mental health law.

In the northeastern province of Corrientes, the local legislature approved a law at the end of August aimed at installing barriers, strengthening CCTV surveillance and lighting, and installing emergency telephones on a bridge in the area that has become a hotspot for suicides in recent years. According to figures cited during this session of the provincial parliament, 327 people have been rescued on this bridge over the Paraná River in the last three years. This includes 105 rescues in 2026, while 13 people have lost their lives there this year.