Overview

When reporting suicide data, it is conventional to combine deaths classified as intentional self-harm with those of undetermined intent, as the majority of the latter are probable suicides. Doing so protects against under-recording and provides a more accurate figure for international and geographical comparisons.Therefore, the term 'suicide' throughout this section is used to refer to deaths by intentional self-harm and undetermined intent combined.

Suicides in Scotland

In 2007, there were 838 suicides in Scotland, which equates to a rate of 15.9 per 100,000 of population. Based on three-year rolling averages there was a 13% fall in suicide rates between 2000-02 and 2005-07.

The graph below shows suicide rates in Scotland between 1996 and 2007. It is based on European Age Standardised Rates (EASRs) as these take account of different age structures over time, and allows you to compare, for example, suicide rates of different geographical areas or countries which have populations of different sizes.

Figure 1

Longer Term Trends

The following graph shows the suicide rate during the period 1982-84 to 2005-07. Suicide rates fluctuate from one year to the next. Three year rolling averages are therefore preferred when assessing trends because they smooth out some of this fluctuation.

Figure 2

The longer term trend shows a fairly stable period between 1982-84 and the early 1990s, followed by an increase in the early 1990s which was sustained until 2002. Since the period 2000 - 02, there has been an overall decline, but levels remain slightly higher than those observed in the 1980s.

Suicides by Gender

The following graph shows the suicide rate per 100,000 of population, for the period 1982-84 to 2005-07 for both males and females. Again 3 year rolling averages have been used to smooth out annual fluctuations.

 
Figure 3

As you can see, suicide rates are higher amongst males than females; in fact around three out of four suicides are by men.

Much of the decrease in recent years is attributable to a fall in male suicides; from the period 2000-02 to 2005-07, male suicide rates decreased by 17% (compared to 11% for females).

UK Comparisons

The most recent year for which data is available for all countries compared is 2004.

Scotland has the highest suicide rate of the constituent countries of the UK (in 2004, Scotland's rate of 15.9 compared to 8.2 for England and Wales and 8.5 for Northern Ireland).

International Comparisons