‘Cultural malaise’: Assisted suicides have surged over 800% in Switzerland

Assisted suicides have increased by more than 800% in Switzerland over the past two decades, new data from the Swiss government show.

In 2023, a record 1,729 residents of Switzerland ended their lives through assisted suicide. That’s up 8.47% from the 1,594 reported cases in 2022. It also marks an 824.6% increase since 2003, when the country recorded 187 assisted suicides, Life News reports.

Switzerland has some of the most permissive assisted suicide laws in the world. Under Article 115 of the Swiss Criminal Code, helping someone commit suicide is legal as long as it’s not done for “selfish motives.”

The country’s legal and cultural approach has led to a rising number of deaths each year, particularly among the elderly, the report said. Of the people who died by assisted suicide in 2023, 90.86% were 65 or older. That number has steadily increased from 74.33% in 2003.

The data also show that among elderly suicide deaths, the overwhelming majority are now assisted. Between 2019 and 2023, 94% of suicides among Swiss residents aged 95 and older were assisted. Among those aged 85 to 94, the figure was nearly 88%, while among those 75 to 84 it was 78%.

Between ages 65 and 74, assisted suicides made up two-thirds of suicide deaths.

A spokesperson for Right to Life UK called the trend “a cause of grave concern.”

“The apparently ever-increasing numbers of elderly people ending their lives through assisted suicide in Switzerland ought also to be deeply alarming for advocates and opponents of assisted suicide,” said Right to Life UK’s Catherine Robinson. “It speaks to a profound cultural malaise that any culture would actively facilitate, and, to that extent, encourage its elderly population to end their lives by suicide.”

Advocates for life argue that legalizing assisted suicide contributes to a shift in values where suicide becomes not a last resort, but a socially acceptable exit for the vulnerable, especially for the aging population.

Eleven U.S. states, mostly Democrat-led ones, have legalized assisted suicide. Since legalizing the practice, some states have further liberalized their laws. Notably, Oregon and Vermont scrapped residency requirements for out-of-staters in 2022 and 2023, respectively.

Also, Colorado passed a law last year reducing the waiting period between oral requests from 15 days to seven, establishing waiting-period waivers for some patients and allowing advanced practice registered nurses to prescribe it.

Additionally, Canada legalized assisted suicide in 2016. By 2022, it was the country’s fifth-leading cause of death, increasing from 1,018 cases in 2016 to 13,241 cases in 2022.