Number of suicides drop in Czech Republic - Prague Daily Monitor
Prague, Oct 14 (CTK) - The number of suicides has been gradually
dropping in the Czech Republic and now makes up 1.5 percent of all
deaths, according to statistical data released by the Czech Statistical
Office (CSU) on its website.

The number of suicides is higher that the number of traffic accident victims, CSU says.

Last
year, 1,564 people committed suicide in the Czech Republic, which was
the third lowest figure in 130 years, while in 2002, 1,534 suicides
were reported.

An interesting statistic but one that is hard to interpret. Czechs seem
to be about in the middle of the European suicide league table with men
slightly more prone to it than women. Another low was in 1917 a year
before the end of WWI - hardly the happiest in Czech history. Just goes
to show that it's hard to read much into it. What might be of more interest is the tidbit that Masaryk, the first president of the new Czechoslovakia in 1918, wrote his doctoral thesis on the sociology of suicide. Coincidence? Yes.