FOI Reference: FOI/2021/3438
You asked
Please supply the number of suicide deaths there has been from 27 November 2021 to current date 22 December 2021.
We said
Thank you for your enquiry regarding suicide data.
We are responsible for the production of mortality data for England and Wales, driven by information collected from death certificates at death registration.
Most suicides require an inquest, where a coroner investigates the death. The amount of time it takes to hold an inquest causes a lag between the date of death and the date of death registration, referred to as a registration delay. Registration delays for deaths caused by suicide tend to be 5 to 6 months on average.
Our most up-to-date analysis for suicide data are our quarterly provisional figures, accessible via the following link: Deaths caused by suicide by quarter in England. This dataset provides information regarding suicides that have been registered quarterly from 2001 up to Q3 2021 (July to September). Quarterly figures for England are held in table 1. This publication is updated quarterly.
Owing to the previously mentioned registration delays, we do not yet hold enough raw data to produce a meaningful analysis for Q4 of 2021. However, this publication is updated quarterly, so the information requested for Q4 will be available in due course, once we have received more delayed registrations.
If you would like to discuss your request further, please contact Health.Data@ons.gov.uk.