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. Download summaries of the latest suicide data available across the UK nations and Republic of Ireland below.

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.

• 4912 suicides were registered in 2020*. This is 404 fewer than in 2019.
• The overall suicide rate was 10.0 per 100,000* compared to 10.8 per 100,000** in 2019.
• The male suicide rate for was 15.3 per 100,000* compared to the female suicide rate of 4.9 per 100,000*
• Males aged 45-49 continue to have the highest suicide rate (23.8 per 100,000)
• There is regional variation in the suicide rates. The North East of England had the highest suicide rate (13.3. per 100,000) in 2020, which has been the case in five out of the last 10 preceding years and saw an increase of 15.7% compared to 2019.

*It is important to note, that these deaths didn't all happen in 2020, and we will not know how many did until all deaths are officially registered- this can sometimes take a year or more.

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

Office for National Statistics publish suicide data for Wales here.

• 285 suicides were registered in 2020*. This is 45 fewer than in 2019.
• The overall suicide rate was 10.3 per 100,000** compared to 12.2 per 100,000** in 2019.
• The male suicide rate was 16.7 per 100,000** compared to the female suicide rate of 4.3 per 100,000**

*It is important to note, that these deaths didn't all happen in 2020, and we will not know how many did until all deaths are officially registered- this can sometimes take a year or more.

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

ScotPHO publish suicide data for Scotland here.

• 805 suicides were registered in 2020*. This is 28 fewer than in 2019
• The overall suicide rate was 15.0 per 100,000. The suicide rate remains statistically similar to 2019 and 2018, and significantly higher than the 4 years beforehand
• Males remain almost 3 times as likely to die by suicide than females, but the female suicide rate has increased since 2017
• People living in the most deprived areas are 3 times more likely to die by suicide than those 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.

• 209 suicides were registered in 2019*
• 157 males (75%) and 52 females (25%)
• The overall suicide rate was 12.7 per 100,000**
• The male suicide rate was 19.4 per 100,000** compared to the female suicide rate of 6.3 per 100,000**

*It is important to note, that these deaths didn't all happen in 2019, and we will not know how many did until all deaths are officially registered- this can sometimes take a year or more.

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

Please note, NISRA are currently reviewing 2015 to 2018 suicide data as part of this review. A factsheet will be shared when this data is available.

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

In the Republic of 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. Find out more in our Understanding UK and ROI Suicide Statistics information here

Data from 2019 is the latest ‘official’ data released by the Central Statistics Office. The following figures are accurate as of 16 November 2021:

• 390 people died by suicide in 2019- 300 males (77%) and 90 females (23%)
• The overall suicide rate was 8.2 per 100,000*
• The male suicide rate was 12.9 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 2019 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 ROI, especially in terms of comparison of ROI suicide data over time as, at any given time, the data for different years may be at different stages.