Suicide Leading Cause of Death

Claims: People in the Prime of Their Lives Account for 45% of Cases, Data Shows

- Ina Opperman

Discovery Life's policy payout data for 2024 shows that suicide is the biggest cause of unnatural deaths among its clients, the rate higher than that for road accidents and even crime.

Suicide accounts for 35% of unnatural deaths in policy claims, followed by road accidents at 23% and crime at 17%.

Sadly, it is people who should be in the prime of their lives - between the ages of 41 to 60 - where suicide claims the most lives. In the 31 to 40 age group, it is second only to vehicle accidents as a cause of unnatural deaths.

Discovery's report saw the increase in suicides continuing, with financial problems cited as the reason for suicide among older people between the ages of 41 and 60, where suicide topped the reason for death at 45%.

One in five of the death claims Discovery Life received last year were due to unnatural causes, with the largest component attributed to suicide at a staggering 35%, followed by vehicle accidents at 23%, compared to the figures for the last five years.