Suicide: deprivation

Deaths by suicide (intentional self-harm and events of undetermined intent combined) have been analysed for areas classified by the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD). Small areas (data zones) are assigned a deprivation score and grouped into deciles (tenths of the population) ranging from the most deprived tenth (decile 1) to the least deprived (decile 10).

The downloadable file Suicide: Deprivation overview 2016 (99KB) shows suicide numbers, crude rates and European age-standardised rates (EASRs) by SIMD decile, by sex, for two 5-year time periods (2001-05 and 2011-15). Data for 2011 onwards are based on the old coding rules for consistency. Note that the most relevant SIMD release was used for each period; SIMD 2004 for the 2001-05 rates, and SIMD 2012 for 2011-15. Technical terms and methodology are explained in the file and in the Suicide Statistics technical paper.

There is a strong relationship between deprivation and suicide. In 2011-15, the rate of suicide in the most deprived decile was three times larger than the rate in the least deprived decile (22.1 deaths per 100,000 population compared to 7.3 per 100,000). There was a similar deprivation pattern for males and females separately.

Though this gap between the most and least deprived areas is still large, it has narrowed significantly since 2001-05, where the most deprived areas had a suicide rate over four times larger than the least deprived areas (31.6 per 100,000 compared to 7.8 per 100,000). Compared to 2001-05, the suicide rate has decreased in every decile

Inequality measures using all the deciles are less vulnerable to fluctuations due to small numbers. The slope index of inequality (SII), which measures absolute differences, decreased between the two time periods for both sexes. The relative index of inequality (RII), which measures relative differences, also decreased. More information on the SII and RII can be found in the Suicide Statistics technical paper.

In conclusion, between 2001-05 and 2011-15, both the overall rate of suicide and the inequality in suicide rates associated with deprivation have decreased in Scotland.