The number of Welsh residents who took their own lives this year have been released. This marks the that second time such figures have been as part of the Real Time Suspected Suicide Surveillance (RTSSS) for Wales.
The data shows that the number for people from Wales who are suspected to have taken their own lives between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024 has remained ‘broadly stable’ at 350. This translates to a rate of 12.4 per 100,000 people, and includes residents of Wales who died both within, and outside of Wales.
Dr Rosalind Reilly, Consultant in Public Health Medicine for Public Health Wales, said: “Every death by suspected suicide is an individual tragedy that has far reaching effects for families and wider communities. The aim of the RTSSS is to provide timely data in order for suicide prevention measures to be rapidly established where it is required. This report provides us with useful data which will help stakeholders across Wales to work effectively to target action where it will have most impact.”
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Men made the most of the people thought to have committed suicide accounting for 76% of the total number deaths. Among men, those aged between 35-44 had the highest rates of suspected suicides (35.6 per 100,000). For the latest Welsh news delivered to your inbox sign up to our newsletter
North Wales saw the most number of people thought to have taken their own by regional area of residence, at 14.1 per 100,000 residents, but this rate is not significantly higher than the overall Welsh rate. In 2022/23, the region this rate was the highest for was Mid and West Wales at 15.7 per 100,000 which was statistically significantly different to the all-Wales rate.
The data has also revealed that rates of suspected suicide for residents of the most deprived areas were statistically significantly higher than the overall Wales rates at 15.8 per 100,000. For residents from the least deprived areas, the rate was significantly lower than the overall Wales rate, at 8.6 per 100,000. The rate of suspected suicide for unemployed people was also at least 12 times higher in people who were reported to be unemployed than in any other employment status group at 126.7 per 100,000.
Figures reveal that 63% of the people reportedly had a mental health condition, 29% were known to mental health services, 53% had a history of previous self-harm, and 65% of those who died by suspected suicide were previously known to the police.
Claire Cotter, national programme lead for suicide and self-harm prevention at the NHS executive, said: “Suicide is devastating for individuals, families and communities, and leaves enduring trauma if people aren’t supported. Suicide prevention work is complex and requires organisations to work together to be most effective in preventing and responding to suspected suicide deaths. Timely data is a crucial part of understanding the range of factors that are associated with suicide.”
“The Welsh RTSSS helps us to target preventative approaches across Wales, and we are starting to see now how this data can feed into our suicide prevention work across multiple organisations. We will continue to refine our approach based on evidence from the RTSSS and other data in this area,” she added.
It should be noted that recording the number of people who have died by suicide year wise, is complicated. Most unnatural deaths lead to an inquest by a coroner – this can be done months, or years after a death. This means that in case of a suspected suicide, the death may not be recorded as suicide until a coroner holds an inquest which in turn may result in the death being recorded as a suicide later, in a different year.
The data reported as part of RTSSS is based on reports to Public Health Wales of deaths by suspected suicide, prior to a coroner’s inquest having taken place. The coroner’s investigation may discover a different cause of death, and therefore it is anticipated that the number of confirmed suicides will be lower than that of the number of suspected suicides.
The figures for deaths by suspected suicides for 2022/2023 can be seen here.
If you are struggling to cope, sources of support in Wales can be found on this page. The Samaritans can be contacted 24 hours a day, for free, on 116 123, by email on jo@samaritans.org or visit www.samaritans.org to find your nearest branch. Welsh Language Service for Samaritans Cymru can be reached via 0808 164 0123 between 7-11pm.