Brits make up one in five visitors to assisted dying clinics

One in five of those who travelled to Zurich for assisted suicide between 2008 and 2012 were from the UK, said researchers from the University of Zurich, who have analysed data on the non-Swiss visitors to clinics. Germany was the only country which had a higher number of so-called “suicide tourists”.

Using data from the Zurich Institute of Legal Medicine database on assisted suicide, they looked at 611 cases from 31 countries around the world – 126 of which were people from Britain.

In 2008 there were 123 cases of suicide tourism said the paper, published in the Journal of Medical Ethics. This dipped to 86 cases in 2009 but increased through to 2012 when it reached 172 cases.

Overall, 58.5 per cent of cases were women and the median age of those using these services was 69 – although the ages of people seeking help ranged from 23 to 97.

The majority of cases of suicide tourism examined in the paper used the Swiss-based Dignitas organisation, which researchers said charged between 9,000 to 10,500 Swiss francs (about £6,000 to £7,000) for their service.

But in total, there are six “right to die” organisations operating in Switzerland that offer assisted suicide to their members, if they meet certain criteria. Four of these offer services to foreign nationals, including people from the UK.

These organisations deal with around 600 cases of suicide each year, some 150 to 200 of which are “suicide tourists”, the researchers found.

Neurological diseases including paralysis, motor neurone disease, Parkinson’s, and multiple sclerosis were the most common reasons for assisted suicide – accounting for 47 per cent of cases.

In Switzerland, assisted suicide is legal as long as the helper does not personally benefit from the death.