FOI Ref: FOI/2021/2878
You asked
Please supply how many people have died of suicide for 2020/2021.
We said
Thank you for your enquiry.
In 2020, there were 5,224 suicides registered in England and Wales. Further information can be found in our recent publication Suicides in England and Wales: 2020 registrations.
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. Please note, 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 which amounts to 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, and 189 days in Quarter 2 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.
For further information on your request, please contact Health.Data@ons.gov.uk.