About Statistics

This section of the website aims to give you an overview of suicide* rates in Scotland only. For more detailed information and breakdowns please visit the  ScottishPublicHealthObservatory  which holds public health intelligence for Scotland.

*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.

Headline Statistics

• There were 838 deaths by suicide in Scotland in 2007. This equates to an age standardised rate of 15.9 per 100,000.
  
• Based on three-year rolling averages there was a 13% fall in suicide rates between 2000-02 and 2005-07
  
• Suicide rates in the most deprived areas of Scotland were double the Scottish average.
  
• Scottish rates vary across health board and across local authority areas.
  
• Between 1998-02 and 2003-07, the suicide crude rate per 100,000 decreased in 10 of the 14 NHS Boards and in 24 of the 32 local authorities.
  
• Suicide is a leading cause of mortality in those under the age of 35.
  
• Based on three-year rolling averages, there has been an overall fall in suicide rates in Scotland between 2000-02 and 2005-07, particularly for males.  However, these rates have shown little change since 2003-05.
  
• In 2007, the suicide rate for males was around three times that for females.
  
• Scotland's suicide rate is higher than rates in other parts of the UK.