Suicide Facts - Provisional 2003 all-age statistics

On the 20th of February the Ministry of Health released the provisional suicide statistics for 2003. They show that 515 people died from suicide in New Zealand in 2003.

Key points are:

• A total of 515 people died by suicide, compared with 465 in 2002.
• The age-standardised suicide rate was 11.5 deaths per 100,000 population, compared with 10.8 in 2002.
• The three-year moving average age-standardised rate of suicide for the total population increased to a peak of 14.0 deaths per 100,000 population for the 1995–1997 and 1996–1998 periods. It then decreased until the most recent period (2001–2003).
• Males continue to have a higher age-standardised suicide rate than females (16.9 compared with 6.2 per 100,000 population respectively). From 1995, there was a decline in the male rate, and then after 2000 there was a general increase in the female rate.
• The all-ages sex ratio for the suicide rate in New Zealand was 2.7 male suicides to every female suicide per 100,000 population.
• The age-standardised rate of suicide was higher for Maori than for non-Maori. For Maori males and females, the age-standardised rates were 21.1 and 6.4 deaths per 100,000 population respectively, and for non-Maori males and females, they were 15.6 and 5.9 deaths per 100,000 population respectively.
• For life-cycle age groups, for females, 15-24-year-olds had the highest age-specific suicide rate (11.0 per 100,000 population), while for males, 25-44-year-olds had the highest age-specific suicide rate (28.4 per 100,000 population).
• New Zealand’s all-ages suicide rate was the sixth highest among selected OECD countries for males, and the fourth highest for females.
• The least deprived areas of New Zealand had a suicide rate of 8.8 per 100,000 population compared with 13.2 per 100,000 population in the most deprived areas of New Zealand.
• Trends by ethnicity, age group and region will be further explored in the upcoming publication Suicide Trends, due for release later in 2006. Three-year moving averages will be used in this document.

• The age-standardised hospitalisation rate for suicide and intentional self-harm for the total population was 131.5 per 100,000 population, compared with 128.2 in 2001/02.
• The sex ratio for hospitalisation for suicide and intentional self-harm in New Zealand was 2.1 female hospitalisations to every male hospitalisation per 100,000 population.

For the full report go to www.moh.govt.nz/suicideprevention.