A staggering 45.4 per cent more people committed suicide in Greece in 2011 compared to the figure at the start of the country’s crippling financial crisis, figures showed on Monday.
According to Athens-based NGO Klimaka and the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT), 328 people killed themselves in 2007, while 477 took their own lives in 2011, following drastic austerity measures such as tax increases and salary and pension cuts.
The Greek government brought in the measures in exchange for multi-billion euro international bailouts.
While no official figures are available for 2012, Klimaka told dpa that the numbers were “just as bad.” Nearly one in four Greeks are unemployed.