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Money woes drive more Italians to suicide

Catherine Edwards
Catherine Edwards - [email protected]
Money woes drive more Italians to suicide
More Italians committed suicide in the first 10 months of this year than for the whole of 2012. Photo: fakelvis/Flickr

There has been a rise in the number of Italians committing suicide as they grapple with money problems amid a recession that is showing little sign of letting up, with 119 taking their lives since the start of 2013, new figures reveal.

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The figure is higher than the total of 89 for the whole of 2012, according to the study by LinkLab, the centre of socio-economic research at Link Campus University in Rome.

The numbers show a "worrying escalation in suicides for economic reasons" over the course of the year, the study said, with 13 deaths in September and 16 in October.

Although victims came from a variety of professions, notably 45.5 percent were entrepreneurs, while suicides among the unemployed rose from 28 in 2012 to 46 over the past 10 months.

People most commonly took their lives because of "spiralling debts" and "sudden loss of employment", the study found.

The age group most at risk are those between 45 and 64, and although numbers have risen in all areas of Italy, most of the cases have occurred in the north-east.

The figures also highlight the increase in attempted suicides, which so far in 2013 have reached 59. 

Nicola Ferrigni, the director of LinkLab, said: "This is a very alarming scenario which represents the difficulties linked to the economic crisis in Italy, and requires immediate intervention from the authorities."

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