Suicide rates in both men and women continued to fall in 2007, reaching the lowest rates since 1991. In 2007 the rate for men was 16.8 per 100,000 population. Male suicide rates reached a peak of 21.1 per 100,000 in 1998. Female suicide rates have been consistently much lower than males and have decreased more steadily. The rate for women in 2007 was 5.0 per 100,000 population.
In 2007 there were 5,377 suicides in adults aged 15 and over, 177 less than in 2006 (5,554) and 940 less than in 1991 (6,317). Three-quarters of the suicides in 2007 were men, and this proportion has remained fairly constant throughout the 1991-2007 period.
Suicide rates by sex and age-group, United Kingdom, 1991-2007
In the early 1990s the highest suicide rates in the UK were among men aged 75 and over. Rates in this age group have since decreased from 25.1 per 100,000 population in 1991 to 15.2 in 2007, the lowest rate across the three male age bands. Since 1997 the highest rates have been in men aged 15-44, peaking in 1998 and then steadily decreasing. In 2007 the rate for this age group was 17.6 per 100,000 population. Suicide rates among men aged 45-74 have fluctuated less throughout the period, although the rate for this group decreased from 17.3 per 100,000 population in 2006 to 16.0 per 100,000 in 2007.
Women aged 75 and over show a similar trend to men in the same age group, with rates peaking at 9.4 per 100,000 population in 1993 and falling to 4.3 per 100,000 in 2007. Since 2004 the highest suicide rates among women have been in those aged 45-74 and in 2007 the rate was 6.2 per 100,000 population. Suicide rates in women aged 15-44 have consistently been the lowest across the 1991-2007 period and fell to 4.2 per 100,000 population in 2007.
Source: Office for National Statistics, General Register Office for Scotland, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency.
Notes: Rates are based on deaths registered each year and are directly age-standardised using the European Standard Population.
Suicide has been defined as deaths given an underlying cause of intentional self-harm or injury/poisoning of undetermined intent. In England and Wales, it has been customary to assume that most injuries and poisonings of undetermined intent are cases where the harm was self-inflicted but there was insufficient evidence to prove that the deceased deliberately intended to kill themselves. For comparability, this definition has been used across all countries of the UK.
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Health Statistics Quarterly