Further Facts/Statistics

[ A note about using statistics ]   [ General ]   [ Suicide and age ]   [ Suicide and gender ]

[ Suicide by state and territory ]   [ When does suicide occur? ]   [ Attempted suicide ]   [ Groups at risk ]   [ Youth suicide ]

[ Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Populations ]   [ References ]   [ Major data sources/providers ]

A note about using statistics

• Caution should be exercised in reporting and interpreting suicide and self-harm information. 
• In the past, the reliability of suicide statistics is affected by a number of factors including differences in reporting methods across Australia, and delays in the processing of possible suicides by coroners. 
• The ABS has instituted a significant quality assurance process to improve the quality of coding of deaths data. ABS advises that care should be taken in comparing 2008 suicide data with 2007 suicide data, as much of the observed increase from 2007 to 2008 would be due to the quality improvement process applied to 2008 data.
• In order to further improve the accuracy of the data on suicide deaths, in 2010, the ABS commenced a new approach of revising the Causes of Death data each year. Consequently the previously released data for 2007 have been revised to include additional information about deaths being examined by the coroners in each state and territory. The 2007 figures referred to here are the revised figures included in the most recent ABS report.
• Due to the relatively small numbers of suicides in some states and territories, even one or two deaths can have a significant impact on suicide rates. Thus comparisons across Australia must be done cautiously. 
• Data on suicides can be reported in different ways, including: as the number of people who died by suicide; as an age-standardised suicide rate such as 7 per 100,000 people (which allows for the comparison of groups with different age structures and sizes); and as a percentage of deaths from all causes which were due to suicide. 
• The comparison of international suicide statistics can be very difficult due to differences in procedures in reporting and classifying deaths, definitions, time periods, and the level of undercounting. 
  

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General ^{1 1b}

• Suicide is a prominent public health concern. Over the past five years, the average number of people dying each year by suicide is around 2,050.
• Rates of suicide vary from year to year. In 2008, 2,191 people died from suicide in Australia, a rate of 10.2 per 100,000. This represented 1.5% of all deaths registered in that year. 
• Since at least the 1920s, more males than females die by suicide each year. In 2008, 1,710 males (16.0 per 100,000) and 481 females (4.5 per 100,000) died by suicide. Thus, in 2008, 78% of people who dies by suicide were males and 22% were females. 
• An examination of Australian suicide rates over the past 40 years suggests a peak in 1963 (17.5 per 100000), with rates declining to 11.3 per 100,000 in 1984. After that, suicide rates climbed back up and in 1997 they reached the level of 14.6 per 100,000. Suicide rates have tended to decline since that time with 10.2 Australians per 100,000 dying by suicide in 2008. 
• Since 1999, the suicide rate in Australia has fallen by 22%, with the suicide rate for males falling by 25% and that for females by 12%. 
• The age-standardised suicide rate for males (16.0 per 100,000) in 2008 was higher than that in 2006 and 2007. The ABS advises that this may be due to an improvement in their data collection and processing methods. Nevertheless the 2008 rate remains lower than lower than other years in the period 1999-2005. 
• The age-standardised suicide rate for total females (4.5 per 100,000) in 2008 was the same as that for 2007. This rate is lower than the average over the past decade of 4.7 per 100,000. 
• Suicide remains a major external cause of death, accounting for more deaths than transport accidents.
• Suicide ranks 14th in the overall causes of death in Australia in 2008, compared to 13th a decade ago. 
• Suicide used to be rare among traditional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people but has become more common in recent years, with the 2008 data suggesting that deaths by suicide account for a much higher proportion of all deaths among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (4.2% of deaths) compared to non-Indigenous Australians (1.5% of deaths).
• Research has shown that first generation migrants in Australia show similar suicide rates to those in their country of origin.
• Research has shown that people in any form of custody have a suicide rate three times higher than the general population.
  

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Suicide and age

• The peak age-group for suicide in men seems to be rising over time. From 1985 through to 1997, men aged 20-24 had the highest rates of suicide of all age groups. For 1998 and 1999, the group with the highest rates was 25-29. From 2000 through to 2005, the group with the highest rates was 30-39. In 2006 it was the 45-49 age group and in 2007 and 2008, the 40-44 year age group had the highest rates.
• From 1980 onwards, there has not been any one age group of females that has consistently had a higher rate of suicide than other age groups. 
• For men, the largest drop in suicide rates between 1999 and 2008 is observed for 25 to 29 year olds, with a fall of 47% in suicide rates for this group. This is followed closely by those aged 20 to 24 years, for which the suicide rate fell by 41%. In contrast, the smallest reduction in rates between 1999 and 2008 is seen for those aged 45 to 49 years, with a reduction of just 2%. 
• For women the largest drop in suicide rates between 1999 and 2008 is observed for 60 to 64 year olds, with a fall of 55% in suicide rates for this group. In contrast, there was a 61% increase in suicides from 1999 to 2008 for women in the 70 to 74 years age group.
• Child suicide (under age 15 years) is a rare event in Australia.

The table below provides a comparison of trends in suicide between 1997 (the most recent peak) and 2008.

# Includes deaths by suicide of those aged under 15 years of age not stated.

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Suicide and gender

• Suicide is much more common among males than females in every State and Territory of Australia. This is in line with trends in other Western countries. 
• In contrast, more females than males intentionally harm themselves1c. 
• The ratio of male to female suicides rose from 2:1 in the 1960s to over 4:1 in the 1990s. Throughout the early 2000s, the ratio of male to female suicides has been somewhat below 4:1, and stood at 3.5:1 in 2008. 
• More than half (55%) of male suicide deaths in 2008 were by hanging, followed by 12% due to poisoning by gases and vapours. 
• Hanging was the most common method of suicide used by females comprising 42% of female deaths by suicide. The second most common cause of suicide death was poisoning by drugs (25% of suicide deaths). 
• In 2008, suicide represented 2.3% of all male deaths and 0.7 % of all female deaths.
• The ratio of deaths by suicide to the total number of deaths from all causes differs greatly among age groups as shown in the table below

• Suicide rates for men born outside Australia are slightly lower than for Australian born men, whereas corresponding rates for women are very similar.

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Suicide by State and Territory

• Combining suicide data over a 5-year period provides a more reliable picture of differences across the States and Territories due to the relatively small number of suicides in some States and Territories in any one year. 
• In recent years (2004-2008) the Northern Territory (22.0 per 100,000) and Tasmania (15.6 per 100,000) have had the highest rates of suicide, followed by South Australia (12.1 per 100,000). In contrast, New South Wales (8.0 per 100,000) and Victoria (9.2 per 100,000) had the lowest rates of suicide.

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When does suicide occur?

• Sometimes people may take their own life after signalling their suicidal intentions to others, including loved ones and/or strangers. In other cases, there may be no warning. 
• Incarceration is a risk factor for suicide. People in any form of custody have a suicide rate three times higher than the general population. 
• People experiencing a mental disorder, such as major depression, or a psychotic disorder, are at increased risk of suicide. Psychological autopsy studies show consistently that up to 90% of people who suicide may have been experiencing a mental disorder at the time of their death. 
• People are at higher risk of suicide while in hospital for treatment of a mental disorder and in the weeks following discharge from mental health in-patient hospital care.

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Attempted suicide

• According to hospitals' data, females are more likely to deliberately injure themselves than are males. In the 2003-2004 financial year, 62% of those who were hospitalised due to self-harm were female. 
• For both males and females, the highest rate of deliberate self-harm occurs for those aged in their teens to middle age. In 2003-2004, 75% of those who were hospitalised due to self-harm were aged between 15 and 44 years and the highest rates were for females aged 15 to 19 years. 
• In 2003-2004, there were 24,087 episodes of hospital care due to self-harm, which equates to a rate of 115.4 per 100,000. However, not all people who are hospitalised due to self harm may have intended to die by suicide. 
• Rates of hospitalised self-harm were much lower among both older men and women than other age groups in 2003-2004. However, the average length of stay in hospital due to self-harm was highest among older age groups.

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Groups at risk of suicide
 

• People with a previous history of attempted suicide are at greatest risk of suicide. 
• Mental disorders such as major depression and psychotic illness are associated with a much increased risk of suicide especially after discharge from hospital or when treatment has been reduced. 
• People with alcohol or drug abuse problems have a higher risk of dying by suicide than the general population. 
• Males are around four times more likely to die by suicide than females. 
• Young Aboriginal males and Torres Strait Islander males are more likely to die by suicide than are other young Australians. 
• People who are incarcerated - both Indigenous and non-Indigenous - are more likely to die by suicide than are other Australians.

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Youth suicide

• In 2008, 71 males aged 15 to 19 years and 149 males aged 20 to 24 years died by suicide. In the same year, 23 females aged 15 to 19 years, and 38 females aged 20 to 24 years died by suicide.
• Considering all causes of death, suicide accounted for 19.7% of deaths among 15 to 19 year old males and 26.4% of deaths among 20 to 24 year old males in 2008. The corresponding percentages for females in both of these age groups is 13.7% and 19.5% respectively. 
• During the mid 1980s, suicide rates for 15 to 19 year old males rose rapidly and peaked at 21.0 per 100,000 in 1988. Over the following decade, rates fluctuated around 17 to 19 per 100,000 for this group and stood at 18.4 per 100,000 in 1997. 
• Since 1997, suicide rates among 15 to 19 year old males have shown a pattern of gradually decreasing. There was an increase in rates for 2007 after the ABS had revised its original estimates following their quality improvement processes. With these new rates in place, the rate for 15-19 year males has again decreased in 2008.
• For females aged 15 to 19 years, the suicide rate has been relatively stable over the past 20 years at around three to five suicide deaths per 100,000. In 2008, the rate was 3.2 per 100,000, down from 4.3 per 100,000 the previous year. 
• For males in the 20 to 24 year age group, rates fell substantially from 1997 to 2006 when the lowest rate for this age group was recorded (16.8 per 100,000). The revised rate for 2007 was higher than this at 17.9 per 100,000, and in 2008, the preliminary rate has been given as 19.0 per 100,000). As the ABS has indicated, these apparent rises may be due to the new processes they introduced in 2008. 
• Suicide rates for females in the same age group show a similar but less dramatic pattern. These rates also decreased from their highest level in 2007 to their lowest level in 20 years in 2003 when the rate was 3.7 per 100,000. There has been a pattern of slight increase in rates since then. The 2008 rate was 5.1 per 100,000.
  

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Suicide among Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders

• Suicide used to be rare among traditional Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders but has become more common in recent years. 
• The ABS only publishes data on specific causes of death (including suicide) among Aboriginal people for five states and territories: New South Wales; Queensland; South Australia; Western Australia; and the Northern Territory. This is due to a number of factors that are outlined in the technical notes in the ABS publication Catalogue 3303.0 Causes of Death, 2008.
• In 2008, there were 103 registered deaths by suicide of Aboriginal people in the five States and Territories considered. 
• In 2008, suicide comprised 4.2% of all identified Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who died in that year. In contrast, suicide comprised 1.5% of deaths of non-Indigenous people who died that year.
• Suicide is more concentrated in the earlier adult years for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians than for the general Australian population.
• A retrospective study of suicide in the NT 1981-2002 showed a significant increase in male Indigenous suicide deaths since 1997³.
• Rates of suicide vary between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and over time.

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Major data sources and/or providers of statistial information on suicide

Australian Bureau of Statistics
www.abs.gov.au
1300 135 070

Health Department contacts for state based data

References

1 Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2007). Suicides, Australia: 1995 to 2005. ABS catalogue number 3309.0.
1b Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2000). Suicides, 1921 to 1998. ABS catalogue number 3309.0.
1c Steenkamp, M. & Harrison, J. (2000). Suicide and hospitalised self-harm in Australia. Canberra, ACT: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
1d Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2010). Causes of Death, Australia, 2008. ABS catalogue number 3303.0.
2 Zubrick, S. et al. (1995). Western Australian Child Health Survey: Developing health and well-being in the nineties. Perth, WA: Institute for Child Health Research.
3 Measey, M. L., Li, S.Q., Parker, R., & Wang, Z. (2006). Suicide in the Northern Territory, 1981-2002. MJA, 185, 315-319.

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