In contrast, poisoning has shown a downward trend, accounting for 29.2% of suicide in 2001 to 16.2% in 2018.Between 2001 and 2007, poisoning was the most common suicide method among females in England and Wales. However, the suicide rate in 2018 is significantly higher than in 2016 and 2017.
The length of time it takes to hold an inquest creates a gap between the date of death and the date of death registration, referred to as a “registration delay”. In Scotland, the different system means that deaths caused by suicide are registered far earlier than those in any other country of the UK.In line with other mortality statistics, analysis presented here is based on deaths registered in a particular year, rather than those occurring each year. In Scotland, although the suicide rate for females has decreased by 32% since 1981, the suicide rate for females did not fall consistently over the 1990s and 2000s in the same way as the other countries. “Looking at the overall trend since the early 80s, we are still witnessing a gradual decline in the rate of suicide for the population as a whole. Analysis reported in the academic literature has shown an increase in the proportion of suicides caused by hanging in the UK, particularly among women. The UK male suicide rate of 17.2 deaths per 100,000 represents a significant increase from the rate in 2017; for females, the UK rate was 5.4 deaths per 100,000, consistent with the rates over the past 10 years.Scotland had the highest suicide rate in GB with 16.1 deaths per 100,000 persons (784 deaths), followed by Wales with a rate of 12.8 per 100,000 (349 deaths) and England the lowest with 10.3 deaths per 100,000 (5,021 deaths); figures for Northern Ireland will be published later this year by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency.Males aged 45 to 49 years had the highest age-specific suicide rate (27.1 deaths per 100,000 males); for females, the age group with the highest rate was also 45 to 49 years, at 9.2 deaths per 100,000.Despite having a low number of deaths overall, rates among the under 25s have generally increased in recent years, particularly 10 to 24-year-old females where the rate has increased significantly since 2012 to its highest level with 3.3 deaths per 100,000 females in 2018.As seen in previous years, the most common method of suicide in the UK was hanging, accounting for 59.4% of all suicides among males and 45.0% of all suicides among females.Nick Stripe, Head of Health Analysis and Life Events, said: “We saw a significant increase in the rate of deaths registered as suicide last year which has changed a trend of continuous decline since 2013. Since 2013, males aged 45 to 64 years have had the highest age-specific suicide rates with 21.6 deaths per 100,000 population in 2018.