Suicide rate in Wales remains stable over past year

The rate of suspected suicide in Wales has remained broadly stable over the past year, according to a new report from Public Health Wales.

Between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024 there were 350 deaths by suspected suicide of Welsh residents who died in or outside of Wales, a rate of 12.4 per 100,000 people, compared to 12.7 per 100,000 in the 2022/23 report.

Men accounted for 76 per cent of deaths by suspected suicide, and by age the rate was highest in males aged 35-44 years.  63 per cent of people were reported to have had a mental health condition, with 29 per cent known to mental health services. 53 per cent also had a history of previous self-harm and 65 per cent of the deaths were of people previously known to police.

Deprived areas

The rates of death by suspected suicide were highest in the most deprived areas, at 15.8 per 100,000 population, which was nearly twice that of the least deprived areas at 8.6 per 100,000.

In addition, the rate among people who were reported as being unemployed was 126.7 per 100,000, at least 12 times higher than any other employment status group.

North Wales had the highest regional rate of suspected suicide rate at 14.1 per 100,000 population, but this was not statistically significantly higher than the all-Wales rate at 12.4 per 100,000.

Tragedy

Dr Rosalind Reilly, Consultant in Public Health Medicine for Public Health Wales, said: “Every death by suspected suicide is an individual tragedy that has far reaching effects for families and wider communities.

“The aim of the RTSSS is to provide timely data in order for suicide prevention measures to be rapidly established where it is required. This report provides us with useful data which will help stakeholders across Wales to work effectively to target action where it will have most impact.”

Claire Cotter, National Programme Lead for Suicide and Self-Harm Prevention at the NHS Executive, added: “Suicide is devastating for individuals, families and communities, and leaves enduring trauma if people aren’t supported.

“Suicide prevention work is complex and requires organisations to work together to be most effective in preventing and responding to suspected suicide deaths.  Timely data is a crucial part of understanding the range of factors that are associated with suicide.

“The Welsh RTSSS helps us to target preventative approaches across Wales, and we are starting to see now how this data can feed into our suicide prevention work across multiple organisations.  We will continue to refine our approach based on evidence from the RTSSS and other data in this area.”

Developed

RTSSS has been developed by Public Health Wales, Welsh Government, the national suicide and self-harm prevention programme based in the NHS Wales Executive, the four Welsh Police forces and Swansea University.

It builds on systems already established by the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) and British Transport Police across the UK.

If you are struggling to cope, sources of support in Wales can be found here.  The Samaritans can be contacted 24 hours a day, for free, on 116 123, by email on [email protected] or visit www.samaritans.org to find your nearest branch.  Welsh Language Service for Samaritans Cymru can be reached via 0808 164 0123 between 7-11pm.