Newly available to download in both English and German is an infographic with statistics derived from a 2016 study on suicide risk, suicidal ideation, and depression in German veterinarians.
To see if the same depression and suicide risks reported in other countries also afflicted German veterinarians, an online survey was conducted in 2016. The respondents comprised of 3,118 veterinarians between the ages of 22 and 69 and the results were compared with two samples from the same age range in the general, non-veterinary population.
The English version of the study was published by the British Veterinary Association (BVA) in May 2020.
The German version from 2016 is available to download as a PDF from Die Bundestierärztekammer (BTK).
I may begin working on translations of other items (web stories, flyers, infographics, etc.) into other languages if there is interest based on stats for the German version of this infographic.

Infographic based on findings from a 2016 survey of German veterinarians and suicide risk, suicidal ideation, and clinical depressive symptoms. For more info, see the blog post Depression and suicide risk in German veterinarians.
A 2016 survey of 3,118 veterinarians in Germany found:
- 19.2% had experienced suicidal ideation compared to 5.7% in the general population
- 32.1% had increased suicide risk compared to 6.6% in the general population
- 27.8% had clinical depressive symptoms compared to 4% in the general population
Schwerdtfeger, et al. – VetsArePeopleToo.com/survey2016
The short link above links to the British Veterinary Association’s (BVA) online English version of these statistics.

Infografik zu Suizidrisiko, Suizidgedanken und Depression bei Tierärzten in Deutschland. Mehr infos im Blog: Depression and suicide risk in German veterinarians.
Eine Umfrage von 3.118 Tierärzt/innen im Jahr 2016 hat herausgefunden:
- 19,2% hatte Suizidegedanken im Gegensatz zu 5,7% in der Allgemeinbevölkerung
- 32,1% zeigte erhöhtes Suizidrisiko im Gegensatz zu 5,7% in der Allgemeinbevölkerung
- 27.8% hatte klinisch relevante Depressions Symptome im Gegensatz zu 4% in der Allgemeinbevölkerung
Schwerdtfeger, et al. – VetsArePeopleToo.com/umfrage2016
The short link above links to the page to download the study from Bundestierärztekammer (BTK) website.
Related resources
I don’t speak Norwegian, so I haven’t created a Norwegian version of the Norvet study conducted in 2021 of depression and suicidal ideation in Norwegian veterinarians. I will try to add more international statistics and translations as time permits.

Vertical version of the 3 of the statistics from the Norvet Study conducted in 2021. More info: The Norvet Study: 27% of veterinarians felt life wasn’t worth living over the past year

Square version containing 2 of the statistics from the Norvet Study conducted in 2021. More info: The Norvet Study: 27% of veterinarians felt life wasn’t worth living over the last year