Latest suicide data

The data below reflects the most up-to-date data available and will be amended as-and-when agencies provide updated statistics.

Please click on the links below to access downloadable factsheets for England, Wales and Scotland.

For more information about how to talk about suicide responsibly and sensitively, please see our Samaritans' Media Guidelines.

Office for National Statistics publish suicide data for England here.

• 5656 suicides were registered in 2023*. This is 372 more than in 2022.
• The overall suicide rate was 11.2 per 100,000**, which is an increase on the previous year.
• The male suicide rate was 17.1 per 100,000**, compared to a female suicide rate of 5.6 per 100,000**.
• Males aged 45-49 years were found to have the highest suicide rate (25.3 per 100,000).
• There is regional variation in the suicide rates. The highest rate and biggest increase was in the North West (14.7 deaths per 100,000 people, compared with 12.5 deaths per 100,000 in 2022). The lowest rate was once again in London (7.3 per 100,000**).

*It is important to note that suicide rates are based on date of registration of death, which happens after an inquest and can sometimes take more than a year.

**Rates are age-standardised, find out more in our Using Suicide Data information here

Office for National Statistics publish suicide data for Wales here

• 386 suicides were registered in 2023*. This is 47 more than in 2022.
• The overall suicide rate was 14.0 per 100,000**, which is an increase on the previous year.
• The male suicide rate was 22.0 per 100,000** compared to the female suicide rate of 6.3 per 100,000**.
• The highest suicide rate in Wales was found among males aged 30-34 years (37.6 per 100,000).

*It is important to note that suicide rates are based on date of registration of death, which happens after an inquest and can sometimes take more than a year.

**Rates are age-standardised, find out more in our Using Suicide Data information here

National Records of Scotland publish suicide data for Scotland here.

• 792 probable suicides were registered in 2023*. This is 30 more deaths than in 2022.
• The overall suicide rate was 14.6 per 100,000 people, a slight increase on the previous year.
• Males remain 3 times as likely to die by suicide than females.
• Since 2000, the average age of death for suicides has generally increased, from a low of 41.9 years in 2000 to 46.6 years in 2023.
• People living in Scotland’s most deprived areas are two and a half times more likely to die by suicide than those living in the least deprived areas.

*For Scotland, the registration time for deaths by suicide is around 8 days so the suicide registration data is more likely to reflect occurrences (the date of death) than other nations but is still registration data.

Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) publish suicide data for NI here.

• 203 suicides were registered in 2022. This is 34 less than 2021.*
• The overall suicide rate was 12.3 per 100,000, a reduction from 14.3 per 100,000 in 2021.**
• 156 (77%) suicides in 2022 were by males and 47 (23%) were females.
• The male suicide rate was 19.2 per 100,000** compared to the female suicide rate of 5.7 per 100,000.**
• The percentage of suicides in 2022 from Northern Ireland’s most deprived areas (31%) was over three times that of the least deprived areas (9.4%).

*It is important to note, that these deaths didn't all happen in 2022, and we will not know how many did until all deaths are officially registered- this can sometimes take a year or more. The three-year rolling average of suicide deaths has remained relatively stable since 2017.

**Rates are age-standardised, find out more in our Using Suicide Data information here

Outputs from a recent review of 2015-2020 suicide statistics can be found here

Central Statistics Office (CSO) publish suicide data for Ireland here.

In Ireland, data is reported in stages. First, provisional data is released based on the year of registration. This data is later revised to reflect year of occurrence and is considered official at this stage. Finally, the data is revised later again to include late registrations, but this can happen years later and can result in substantial changes. Find out more in our Understanding UK and Ireland Suicide Statistics information here.

Data from 2021 is the latest occurrence data released by the Central Statistics Office. The following figures are accurate as of 31 October 2023:

• 449 people died by suicide in 2021 - 359 males (80%) and 90 females (20%)
• The overall suicide rate was 9.2 per 100,000*
• The male suicide rate was 14.9 per 100,000*, compared to the female suicide rate of 3.6 per 100,000*

*Rates are age-standardised, find out more in our Using Suicide Data information here

The number and rates from 2021 and previous years are still subject to change with the inclusion of late registrations. This staged approach provides challenges for producing a final factsheet of figures for Ireland, especially in terms of comparison of Ireland suicide data over time as, at any given time, the data for different years may be at different stages.

Central Statistics Office (CSO) publish suicide data for Ireland here and a review of late-registered deaths by suicide up to 2020 and explanation from the CSO around the complexities of reporting can be found here. You can contact [email protected] with any queries.