Suicide

The National Picture

In 2024, 7,147 people died by suicide across the UK, the equivalent of nearly 20 people every day. In England and Wales, 6,190 of those deaths were registered, a rate of 11.4 deaths per 100,000 people. Scotland recorded 704 probable suicides, and 290 were registered in Northern Ireland. While the overall rate in England and Wales is broadly stable compared to 2023, it sits at its highest level since 1999 when measured on a registration basis.

To understand what that means, it helps to know how suicide is counted. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, all suicide deaths must go through a coroner's inquest before they can be registered, which can take months or even years. The figures published each year therefore reflect deaths registered in that year, not necessarily deaths that occurred in it. In 2024, only 38.7% of registered suicide deaths in England and Wales actually happened that year. Scotland operates differently. Deaths are investigated by a Procurator Fiscal rather than a coroner, which means registration happens much faster and Scottish figures more closely reflect when deaths actually occurred.

There is also an important methodological shift to keep in mind. In July 2018, the standard of proof required for a coroner to record a death as suicide was lowered, from the criminal standard (beyond reasonable doubt) to the civil standard (on the balance of probabilities). This change, which applies in England, Wales and Northern Ireland but not Scotland, increased the number of deaths recorded as suicide and affects comparisons with years before 2018.

Taking the long view, suicide rates in England and Wales fell steadily from the early 1980s through to the late 2000s, reaching a low point in 2007. That downward trend has not been maintained since. The current rate, while still well below the peaks of the 1980s and 1990s, has climbed since 2017, partly reflecting the 2018 definitional change, but also a genuine rise in need.

Who is most affected?

Suicide does not affect everyone equally. Understanding who is most at risk, and why, is essential to targeting prevention where it is needed most.

Gender

The gap between male and female suicide rates is a persistent pattern in the data. In 2024, men accounted for around three quarters of all suicide deaths registered in England and Wales, with a rate of 17.6 deaths per 100,000 compared to 5.7 per 100,000 for women, a ratio that has remained broadly consistent for at least the last two decades. This disparity is not explained by men experiencing more suicidal distress: the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey 2023/24 found that women are slightly more likely than men to report lifetime suicidal thoughts (24.2% compared to 15.4%), and more likely to have ever attempted suicide (8.6% compared to 6.9%). The gap in deaths is better understood through differences in help-seeking behaviour, social support, and means of suicide.

Age

Risk is not evenly spread across the life course. In 2024, those aged 50 to 54 had the highest suicide rate of any age group, at 17.0 deaths per 100,000 people, a pattern that has held consistently since 2021. Middle-aged men in particular have the highest rate of suicide. At the same time, the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey 2023/24 shows that suicidal thoughts and self-harm are most commonly reported by young adults, especially women aged 16 to 24. This points to an important distinction: younger people experience higher rates of ideation and self-harm, while older adults, particularly middle-aged men, are most represented in mortality data. Prevention strategies need to be responsive to both ends of this continuum.

Gaps in the data

When a death is registered in England and Wales, the following information is collected: age, sex, date and place of death, usual place of residence, occupation, marital status, country of birth, and cause of death (including method). Ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability status, and socioeconomic status are not collected at death registration. This means that for these characteristics, there is no routine annual data on suicide. The absence of this demographic information is a widely documented gap. Studies can only estimate suicide rates across certain groups over time, to identify emerging trends, or to target prevention resources where they are most needed.

Studies on samples of people, such as the ONS analysis of suicide by sexual orientation, which matched 2021 Census responses to death registrations, can provide estimates for specific time periods. The Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey offers insight into suicidal thoughts, attempts and self-harm across demographic groups. But these approaches are conducted with a subset of the population, meaning results carry uncertainty, particularly for smaller groups where sample sizes are low and confidence intervals wide. These are also periodic snapshots rather than continuous measures.