§ Mr. HendryTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many suicides there were of(a) males and (b) females aged (i) under 16, (ii) between 16 and 18 and (iii) between 18 and 21 years in each of the past five years. [120586]
§ John HealeyThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Hendry, dated 23 June 2003:
625WAs National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question the number of suicides for (a) males and (b) females aged (i) under 16, (ii) between 16 and 18 and (iii) between 18 and 21 years in each of the past five years. (120586)The most recent available data are for deaths occurring in the calendar year 2001. Figures for each year from 1997 to 2001 are given in the attached table.
Number of deaths from intentional self harm1 and injury undetermined whether accidentally or purposely inflicted2, by sex and age. England and Wales, 1997 to 20013 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 Injury undetermined whether accidentally or purposely inflicted 91 67 50 61 72 Total 233 193 176 178 186 (b) Females (i) 13–15 Intentional self harm 3 3 2 2 2 Injury undetermined whether accidentally or purposely inflicted 3 1 4 4 4 Total 6 4 6 6 6 (ii) 16–17 Intentional self harm 9 7 10 9 3 Injury undetermined whether accidentally or purposely inflicted 9 9 8 6 6 Total 18 16 18 15 9 (iii) 18–21 Intentional self harm 28 31 23 38 13 Injury undetermined whether accidentally or purposely inflicted 15 20 19 17 19 Total 43 51 42 55 36 1 The cause of death for intentional self harm was defined using the International Classification of Diseases Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes E950-E959 for the years 1997 to 2000, and, for the year 2001, the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes X60-X84. 2 The cause of death for injury undetermined whether accidentally or purposely inflicted was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes E980-E989 excluding E988.8 for the years 1997 to 2000, and, for the year 2001, the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10 codes Y10-Y34 excluding Y33.9 where the Coroner's verdict was pending. It is assumed likely that most of these deaths at ages over 13 are cases where the harm is self-inflicted but there was insufficient evidence to prove that the deceased deliberately intended to kill themselves. As there were no intentional self harm deaths on children under the age of 13, data for undetermined whether accidentally or purposely inflicted have not been included. 3 Figures are for deaths occurring in each calendar year from 1997 to 2001.