Global consumption of antidepressants (AD) has increased dramatically in the last two decades, with Europeans being the largest consumers.
The Czech Republic recorded the highest growth at 577%.
Which countries have the highest consumption of antidepressants?
Looking at changes over the last decade, there is data for 24 European countries.
In 2020, consumption of AD pharmaceuticals per 1000 people per day ranged from 20 in Latvia to 153 in Iceland. It is followed by Portugal (131 DDD), UK (108 DDD in 2017), Sweden (105 DDD) and Spain (87 DDD).
The three largest countries by population, namely Turkey (49 DDD), France (55 DDD) and Germany (62 DDD) all recorded below average usage.
Is there a link between happiness and antidepressant use?
The short answer is no. The data for European countries does not suggest that the happier people are, the less they use antidepressants.
Iceland, which was the second happiest country in the world in 2020 according to the World Happiness Report, has the highest consumption of antidepressants in Europe.
Sweden, which ranked sixth in the Happiness Report, has the fourth highest use of antidepressants at 105 DDD.
Finns, who were the happiest nation according to the report, used 82 DDD antidepressants, which placed Finland seventh out of 24 countries.
Latvia, which has the lowest consumption at 20 daily doses, ranks 34th in the World Happiness Report. Hungary, which follows Latvia with 30 DDD, was in 43rd place on the happiness list.
