WHO did not report suicide spike after Trump victory
Crisis hotlines reported an uptick in calls after US President-elect Donald Trump won the 2024 race for the White House, but social media posts sharing supposed World Health Organization (WHO) data showing a spike in suicides are false. The agency does not report such deaths daily, and no available figures support the claim.
"2,038 suicides have been reported today after @realDonaldTrump election victory," says a November 6, 2024 X post.
An accompanying screenshot attributes the figure to the WHO's suicide prevention program website.
Similar claims circulated elsewhere on X, Facebook and Instagram.
Trump's victory spurred a range of reactions from countries across the globe. However, the WHO did not report a spike in suicides.
"The online claim is not correct," a spokesperson said in a November 8 email.
The resources page for the agency's suicide prevention program does not have a daily suicide tracker or recent figures that support the posts (archived here).
'Not expected to be exact'
A keyword search revealed the tally appears to come from the website worldometers.info (archived here). Although it cites the WHO, the link redirects to a broken webpage (archived here).
An FAQ section of the Worldometer website says: "For these counters, we show estimated current numbers based on statistics and projections from the most reputable official organizations" (archived here).
However, the site cautions that the numbers are "not expected to be exact to the single digit, but to provide a fairly accurate and informative description of a phenomenon. This inherited limitation must be taken into account for the correct interpretation of the information."
The WHO's most recent available dataset on deaths by suicide is from 2019. The WHO's overall mortality database has not been updated since February 2024 (archived here and here).
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) most recent provisional data, based on death certificates (archived here), is also only available through March 2024.
AFP contacted Worldometer for comment, but a response was not forthcoming.
Crisis calls spiked
While the posts incorrectly cite WHO data to promote claims of a suicide spike, two major crisis hotlines did experience surges before and after November 5.
The Trevor Project, which provides free services to LGBTQ youth aged 13 to 24, reported a nearly 700 percent increase in conversations November 6 compared to the weeks prior (archived here).
The Crisis Text Line, a nonprofit that provides free, confidential text-based mental health support and crisis intervention, also told US media it had seen a more than 50 percent increase in conversations from LGBTQ texters starting the Friday before Election Day (archived here).
According to the WHO, more than 720,000 people annually die by suicide worldwide. Estimates based on CDC data show an average of 135 Americans die by suicide each day (archived here).
AFP has debunked other claims about the 2024 US presidential election here.
The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is a hotline for individuals in crisis or for those looking to help someone else. To speak with a trained listener, call 988. Visit 988lifeline.org for crisis chat services or for more information.
