To media colleagues, please refer to Samaritans Media Guidelines for reporting on suicide.

Statistics released by NRS show that there were 792 suicides registered in 2023, a 3.9% increase on 2022 (which was up 1.2% on 2021’s data).

It’s the highest number of deaths by suicide since 2020 (805).

Key points: 

• 792 deaths by suicide in 2023, this is an increase of 30 from the previous year, and the second consecutive rise.
• The overall suicide rate was 14.6 per 100,000. This was a slight increase on the previous year, but in line with the previous five-year average.
• People living in Scotland’s most deprived areas are 2.5 times more likely to die by suicide than those living in the least deprived areas. This is higher than the deprivation gap of 1.8 times for all causes of death.
• At council level, the rate was higher than the Scottish average in Dundee City, Highland, and East Ayrshire.
• The mortality rate for suicides in 2023 was 3.2 times as high for males as it was for females.
• Since 2000, the average age of death for suicides has generally increased, from a low of 41.9 years in 2000 to 46.6 years in 2023

Commenting on the news for Penumbra, Isobel Murray, Director of Programmes, said:

“We must never lose sight of the fact that behind every one of these deaths is a person, their family members, and their friends. Today is an important time to reflect on what that loss means for those people who have been bereaved, and for all our communities.

“There is good work happening on suicide prevention in our communities. But these figures tell us there is still a lot of work to do. Key to that will be continued funding and support for the Scottish Government and COSLA’s suicide prevention strategy, Creating Hope Together. We know that suicide is complex, that’s why this approach must continue to tackle head-on the issues and inequalities which contribute to suicide.

“As a partner in Suicide Prevention Scotland, Penumbra will continue to work with the Scottish Government, COSLA and all our partners in realising the vision to reduce the number of deaths by suicide in Scotland.”

What do the figures tell us?

To understand how this increase fits into the broader trend, it is essential to consider not just year-to-year changes but also the five-year average, which provides a more stable and reliable measure of trends over time.

The number of deaths by suicide in 2023 at 792 is very slightly above the previous five-year average (787 for 2018–2022).

Compared to the previous female five-year average (208 for 2018–2022), 2023 shows a decrease of six deaths. Compared to the previous male five-year average (579 for 2018–2022), 2023 shows an increase of 11 probable suicides.

The average age of death by suicide has fallen from the previous year. In 2022 this was 48.2 years; in 2023 it was 46.6 years.

The overall increase in the past year can be attributed to an increase in male suicides by 34 (590). There was a reduction in female suicides by four (202). The rate for men remains three times that of women.

Looking back over the previous few years, there was a long downward trend in suicide rates from 2011–2017.

This was followed by an increase in 2018 and 2019, then by a decrease in 2020 and 2021, with the lowest numbers seen since 2017 (680) in 2021 (753).

The numbers released for 2022 increased very slightly (762).

The further increase in numbers for 2023 suggest that the downward trend may have stalled, however it is too early to say as several years’ data are needed to confirm an overall trend.

Over the last five years, Scotland’s suicide rates have shown fluctuations, with some years experiencing notable increases.

For example, in 2018, there were 784 deaths by suicide, a sharp rise from previous years, particularly among young people aged 15–24. The numbers slightly decreased in 2021 to 753 but rose again to 762 in 2022.

Probable suicides in the 15–24-year-old group have increased by ten to 79 in 2023, from 69 in 2022.

However, the category with the highest increase was the 35–44-year-olds (up 22 to 175), repeating a pattern seen for the previous year’s data, where this age-group also had one of the highest increases in suicide numbers for 2022 (up 22).

In contrast, the biggest reduction seen is in the 65–74-year-old group, which has fallen by 28 to 63 in 2023 from 91 in 2022.

There has also been a slight decrease over the last year in the 75–84-year-old group, with numbers staying the same in the 55–64-year-old age group.

The decrease in these older age groups was driven mostly by male suicides, which decreased by 22 to 99 in the 55–64-year-olds, and by 12 in the 65–74-year-olds.

In contrast, the increase seen for 2023 was driven mostly by male suicides in the 35–44-year-old group, which were up 23 to 144, and the highest number in this age category since 2011.

Although 792 people died by suicide in 2023, this number does not consider changes in the population size or how the number of people in different age groups change as time goes by.

Therefore, suicide rates corrected for these changes give more meaningful comparisons.

When we use these corrected suicide rates, the highest rates seen in 2023 was among 35–39-year-old males (44.3 per 100,000), an increase of 9.8 from 34.5 in 2022.

The next highest rate was for 40–44-year-old males (42.1 per 100,000), an increase of 5.4 from 36.7 in 2022.

In comparison, the highest rate for female suicide rate increased by 7.0 to 14.9 in the 50–54-year-old group.

In 2023, the suicide rate in the most deprived areas was 20.9 per 100,000, compared with least deprived areas of 8.6 per 100,000.

This means that deaths by suicides in 2023 occurred 2.4 times more in our most deprived communities, an improvement on inequality seen in previous years e.g., 2022 which was 2.6 times more and the previous five-year average 2018–2022, which was 3.1 times more.