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 746 deaths by suicide in Scotland in 2009* (deaths from intentional self harm and events of undetermined intent). This equates to an age-sex-standardised rate of 14.2 per 100,000 population.

• Based on three-year rolling averages there was an 11.5% fall in suicide rates between 2000-02 and 2007-09 (13% in men and a 7% fall in women).

• In 2009, the suicide rate for males was just under three times that for females.

• Suicide rates generally increased with increasing deprivation, with rates in the most deprived 30% of areas of Scotland significantly higher than the Scottish average.

• Between 2000-04 and 2005-09, the suicide rate decreased in 10 of the 14 NHS Boards and in 23 of the 32 local authorities.

*Annual suicide statistics are released annually in August by the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS). The 2009 statistics were published on 6 August 2010.