[Suicide mortality by age groups in both parts of Germany]

In the past a long-term comparison of suicides between the two German states has been prevented by the lack of published data on suicide mortality in the former GDR. These data are available now, showing a surprising similarity in the developments. The level of suicide mortality has been higher in the GDR from the beginning, but both countries experienced very similar reductions in the absolute und relative importance of suicide for overall mortality since the mid 1970's. A cohort analysis of suicide mortality is able to contribute to the explanation of the gap in suicide mortality between East and West Germany. The excess suicide mortality in East Germany is the result of a cohort effect and heavily concentrates on male and female birth cohorts from 1925 to 1945. For these cohorts the excess mortality due to suicide explains up to 25 percent of the total excess mortality compared with the same West German birth cohorts.