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 either the  Scottish Public Health Observatory (ScotPHO), which holds public health intelligence for Scotland, or General Register Office for Scotland (GROS). It is important to note that annual changes are based on relatively small numbers, so may not be statistically significant. For monitoring purposes it is conventional to pool rates over a three year period, and develop three-year rolling averages. In this way, attention shifts from yearly fluctuations. For more information on how to use the statistics, please see our guide.

*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.