Myth

Despite building some of the most safest cars in the world, having a strong economy and high standards of living - boredom leads Swedish inhabitants to prefer suicide than live in this perfect, if slightly cold, Scandinavian utopia.

Reality

Of course its complete rubbish. Sweden does not have a high suicide rate at all. In the 1994 World Health Organisation study it was found to be far lower than fellow European countries Germany, France, Belgium, Denmark and Switzerland.

Lithuania has the 1994 highest rate of a little over 50-80 suicides per 100,000 people per annum (depending on the study). Sweden by comparison was a little over 20-40 suicides per 100,000.

Tags: sweden, suicide