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Suicide

Relevance

Suicide is an indicator of the mental health and social wellbeing of society and a major cause of injury-related death in the population.

Current level and trends

In 2003, 515 people died by suicide, an increase from 465 in 2002.¹⁸ The age-standardised¹⁹ suicide death rate was 11.5 per 100,000 population in 2003, compared with 10.8 per 100,000 in 2002. Over the 1980s and 1990s there was an upward trend in the suicide death rate, which reached a peak of 14.3 per 100,000 in 1998. Since then the rate has fallen and the 2003 rate was the same as the 1986 rate of 11.5 per 100,000.

Figure H3.1 Age-standardised suicide death rate, by sex, 1986–2003

Source: Ministry of Health, New Zealand Health Information Service
Notes: (1) 2002 and 2003 figures are provisional (2) Age-standardised to Segi’s world population

Age differences

People aged 25–34 years had the highest suicide death rate for 10-year age groups in 2003 (18.5 per 100,000 population, or 101 deaths), followed by people aged 15–24 years (16.5 per 100,000, with 95 deaths).

Figure H3.2 Suicide death rates, by age, 1986–1988 to 2001–2003

Source: Ministry of Health, New Zealand Health Information Service
Notes: (1) Three-year average rates for 10-year age groups calculated by the Ministry of Social Development (2) 2002 and 2003 figures are provisional

For many decades, the suicide rate was consistently highest at ages 65 years and over but this changed in the late 1980s during a steep increase in youth (15–24 year olds) suicide. The youth suicide rate peaked at 28.7 per 100,000 in 1995 and has fallen by 42 percent since then, but is still higher than the 1986 rate of 15.6 per 100,000. The pattern is similar for 25–34 year olds. Suicide rates have been falling among people aged over 45 years. These age patterns may reflect, in part, cohort effects.

Sex differences

Males have a much higher rate of death by suicide than females, with 16.9 deaths per 100,000 males in 2003, compared with 6.2 deaths per 100,000 females. The male suicide rate increased sharply in the late 1980s, declined after 1998, and in 2003 was just below the 1986 rate of 17 deaths per 100,000 males. In comparison, the female rate has been relatively stable, fluctuating at around 5–6 per 100,000. Because of the small numbers involved, it is more reliable to consider the trend over several years.

While the suicide death rate is higher for males, more females than males are hospitalised for intentional self-harm. In 2002/2003, the female–male rate ratio for intentional self-harm in New Zealand was 2.1 female hospitalisations to every male hospitalisation per 100,000 population. Females more commonly choose methods that are less likely to be fatal.²⁰

Ethnic differences

In 2003, there were 87 Māori deaths from suicide, accounting for 17 percent of all suicides in that year. The age-standardised rate of suicide death was 13.5 per 100,000 population for Māori, compared to 10.7 for non-Māori. The suicide rate for Māori youth in 2003 was 28.6 per 100,000, compared with the non-Māori rate of 13.7 per 100,000. Suicide deaths for both Māori and non-Māori were lower in 2000–2002 than in 1997–1999. Because of the small numbers, trends in Māori suicide rates should be treated with caution.

Table H3.1 Age-standardised suicide rates and number of suicide deaths, Māori and non-Māori, 1996–2003

Source: Ministry of Health, New Zealand Health Information Service
Notes: (1) 2002 and 2003 figures are provisional; 2001 rates have been revised (2) Age-standardised to Segi's world population

International comparison

A comparison of age-standardised suicide rates in 13 OECD countries for the years 2001–2003 shows that New Zealand's rate was the sixth highest for males (17.1 per 100,000 males) and the fourth highest for females (6.2 per 100,000 females).²¹ Finland had the highest male suicide rate (26.2 per 100,000 in 2003), while Japan had the highest female rate (8.4 per 100,000 in 2002). Australia (17.5) had a slightly higher rate of male suicide than New Zealand, while Canada (15.8) and the United States (15) had slightly lower rates. The United Kingdom had the lowest male suicide rate (9.2). Australia and Canada (each 4.5), the United States (3.5) and the United Kingdom (2.5) all reported lower female suicide rates than New Zealand .

New Zealand had the third highest male youth suicide rate, after Finland and Ireland, and the highest female youth suicide rate. New Zealand is one of a small number of countries which have higher suicide rates at younger ages than at older ages.²²