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About 800,000 Russians committed suicide in the 20 years following the collapse of the Soviet Union, according to new statistics - more than one ever 15 minutes in a country with a population of 142.9 million.
Although the rate has fallen from a peak of 42 suicides for every 100,000 people during the social and economic turbulence of the early 1990s, it was 23.5 per 100,000 in 2010.
The average age of Russians who kill themselves is 43 for men and 52 for women. Men are six times more likely to kill themselves than women.
A recent study by the Moscow-based Public Opinion Fund showed that almost a quarter of Russians, 23 per cent, "often" thought about death. It linked morbid propensities to education, religion, location and how many children one has.
Lower rates of suicide were recorded in big cities such as Moscow as well as the Northern Caucasus, where there is a large Muslim population. Above average rates were recorded in Siberia and Russia's far eastern regions.
The levels are one factor feeding into Russia's demographic decline, which Vladimir Putin, the prime minister, has described as a "catastrophe".
In 1992 more Russians died than were born for the first time since the Second World War. Census figures shows that between 2002 and 2010, the country's population fell by 1.6 per cent.
Although the rate has fallen from a peak of 42 suicides for every 100,000 people during the social and economic turbulence of the early 1990s, it was 23.5 per 100,000 in 2010.
The average age of Russians who kill themselves is 43 for men and 52 for women. Men are six times more likely to kill themselves than women.
A recent study by the Moscow-based Public Opinion Fund showed that almost a quarter of Russians, 23 per cent, "often" thought about death. It linked morbid propensities to education, religion, location and how many children one has.
Lower rates of suicide were recorded in big cities such as Moscow as well as the Northern Caucasus, where there is a large Muslim population. Above average rates were recorded in Siberia and Russia's far eastern regions.
The levels are one factor feeding into Russia's demographic decline, which Vladimir Putin, the prime minister, has described as a "catastrophe".
In 1992 more Russians died than were born for the first time since the Second World War. Census figures shows that between 2002 and 2010, the country's population fell by 1.6 per cent.
