England and Wales suicide deaths 2015 to 2021

FOI Ref: FOI/2021/2892

You asked

​Please supply the number of deaths by suicide for the years 2015-2020 inclusive, as well as the deaths by suicide so far recorded for 2021.

Please supply this information displayed as the figures for every year in Wales and then also the figures for every year in England. Please do not combine the two countries.

We said

​Thank you for your enquiry requesting the number of deaths involving suicide in 2015 and 2021.

The following publication will provide deaths involving suicide in England and Wales from 1981 to 2020: Suicides in England and Wales.

Footnote:

1. The National Statistics definition of suicide is given in the 'Guidance' worksheet.
2. Figures are for persons aged 10 years and over.
3. Age-standardised mortality rates in this table refers to a weighted average of the age-specific mortality rates per 100,000 people and standardised to the 2013 European Standard Population. Age-standardised mortality rates allow for differences in the age structure of populations and therefore allow valid comparisons to be made between geographic areas, the sexes and over time.
4. The lower (LCL) and upper (UCL) 95% confidence limits have been provided. These form a confidence interval, which is a measure of the statistical precision of an estimate and shows the range of uncertainty around the estimated figure. Calculations based on small numbers of events are often subject to random fluctuations. As a general rule, if the confidence interval around one figure overlaps with the interval around another, we cannot say with certainty that there is more than a chance difference between the two figures.
5. The area is based on the persons usual residence as provided by the informant upon registration in England and Wales. Figures for England and Wales separately (area codes E92000001 and W92000004 respectively) exclude death of non-residents and are based on the latest available postcode boundaries (May 2021)
6. Figures are for deaths registered, rather than deaths occurring in each calendar year. Due to the length of time it takes to complete a coroner's inquest, it can take months or even years for a suicide to be registered. More details can be found in the latest 'Suicides in the UK' statistical bulletin.

Suicides 2021

We produce provisional suicide data for England on a quarterly basis, including provisional data for January to June 2021 which was released in September 2021.

There were 1,274 registered deaths in Quarter 1 (January to March) and 1,287 registered deaths in Quarter 2 (April to June) 2021. The data reported in this release cannot be used to show the number of suicides with a date of death in 2021. Of the 2,561 suicides registered in England between January and June 2021, fewer than one in five had a date of death that was also in 2021 (451 deaths or 17.6%).

This is in line with expectation considering the coroner involvement with the investigation of these deaths, and the amount of time it takes to hold an inquest. We refer to this as a registration delay. Registration delays refer to the time between the date of death and its eventual registration after inquest. Median registration delays were 177 days in Quarter 1 (January to March), and 189 days in Quarter 2 (April to June) 2021. Both delays are higher than those recorded in England for the whole of 2020 (165 days), with the increase likely explained by disruption to inquests caused by the pandemic.

Unfortunately, we do not conduct analysis on provisional quarterly data for Wales and therefore do not hold this information.

For further information on your request, please contact Health.Data@ons.gov.uk.