England & Wales methods of suicide
In England & Wales (figures compiled separately for Scotland), methods of suicide are more evenly spread than they are in the US. With firearms much harder to come by, that method is not surprisingly lower down the list. That aside, the other top methods in England and Wales are the same as in the US - hanging and poisoning.
England & Wales methods of suicide 2001
Similar to the US, 75% of all suicides are men, and this proportion has remained fairly constant since 1991.
Methods of suicide between women and men is very different in the UK. Poisoning is almost twice as popular in women than men, with women choosing hanging half as often as men. Very few women in England & Wales use firearms to kill themselves, and there are also much fewer deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning. The table below shows the breakdown for men, women and all adults.
|
Method |
Men |
|
Women |
|
All adults |
|||
|
Hanging |
1,454 |
41.2% |
|
247 |
21.3% |
|
1,701 |
36.3% |
|
Drug-related poisoning |
709 |
20.1% |
|
534 |
46.0% |
|
1,243 |
26.5% |
|
Other and unspecified |
314 |
8.9% |
|
107 |
9.2% |
|
421 |
9.0% |
|
'Other' poisoninga |
342 |
9.7% |
|
34 |
2.9% |
|
376 |
8.0% |
|
Drowning |
184 |
5.2% |
|
80 |
6.9% |
|
264 |
5.6% |
|
Jumping/lying/falling before moving object |
127 |
3.6% |
|
39 |
3.4% |
|
167 |
3.6% |
|
Jumping/falling from high place |
109 |
3.1% |
|
39 |
3.4% |
|
149 |
3.2% |
|
Firearms and explosives |
102 |
2.9% |
|
7 |
0.6% |
|
109 |
2.3% |
|
Sharp objects |
78 |
2.2% |
|
10 |
0.9% |
|
88 |
1.9% |
|
Unspecified hanging, strangulation and suffocation |
74 |
2.1% |
|
29 |
2.5% |
|
103 |
2.2% |
|
Plastic bag |
32 |
0.9% |
|
34 |
2.9% |
|
65 |
1.4% |
|
Total |
3,529 |
|
|
1,161 |
|
|
4,690 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
a) Mainly comprised of motor vehicle exhaust gas |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
It should be noted that this data applies only to those aged 15 or over. For children younger than 15 there is a high number of open verdicts compared to suicide verdicts, and these open verdicts cannot be considered suicides in the way that they are for adults.
Source
Office for National Statistics, Health Statistics Quarterly Winter 2003: UK Suicides 2001 by method, age and sex.