You asked
Please can you provide me with the total suicide figures, split between males and females, and split into age groups for the dates 01 March 2020 to 28 March 2021.
Please can you also provide the total suicide figures (not split into groups) for the following years:
- 2020
- 2019
- 2018
- 2017
- 2016
- 2015
We said
Thank you for your enquiry
Suicides in the UK 2015-2019:
The following publications, Suicides in the UK - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk), provide registered deaths in the UK from suicide analysed by sex, age, area of usual residence of the deceased and suicide method. Data is available from 2015-2019. For each bulletin, please also navigate to the green link on the right-hand side of the webpage named 'View all data used in this statistical bulletin'. This will provide the datasets which accompany this bulletin, which provide more detailed information.
Our Suicides in the UK publication will be updated with finalised 2020 suicide data in September 2021. This is to allow time for as many delayed registrations as possible to come through.
Suicides in England and Wales 2020/2021:
We produce provisional suicide data for England on a quarterly basis, with the latest update including deaths from January to December 2020. Please also see the dataset accompanying this bulletin, which provides suicide figures by age and sex.
This publication explains that the majority of suicides require an inquest, where a coroner must investigate the cause of death. The amount of time taken to hold an inquest causes a lag between the date the death occurred and the date the death is registered. We refer to this as a registration delay and registration delays for deaths caused by suicide tend to be five to six months on average. Because our data is based on death registrations, this delay means that many of the deaths recorded for 2020 in this analysis have occurred in 2019. More detailed information can be found in the publication. This bulletin is updated with new data quarterly.
As such, data showing deaths by suicide registered in 2021 are considered exempt under Section 22(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, whereby information is exempt from release if there is a view to publish the information in the future. Furthermore, as a central government department and producer of official statistics, we need to have the freedom to be able to determine our own publication timetables. This is to allow us to deal with the necessary preparation, administration and context of publications. It would be unreasonable to consider disclosure when to do so would undermine our functions.
This exemption is subject to a public interest test. We recognise the desirability of information being freely available and this is considered by ONS when publication schedules are set in accordance with the Code of Practice for Statistics. The need for timely data must be balanced against the practicalities of applying statistical skill and judgement to produce the high quality, assured data needed to inform decision-making. If this balance is incorrectly applied, then we run the risk of decisions being based on inaccurate data which is arguably not in the public interest. This will have an impact on public trust in official statistics in a time when accuracy of official statistics is more important to the public than ever before.