The rate of suicides in Scotland’s most deprived areas was more than two times higher than the most affluent areas of the country with new figures showing the number across Scotland had risen in 2023.

New figures published by the National Records of Scotland show that the number of probable suicide deaths had risen by 30 to 792 in 2023. Male suicides had increased by 34 to 590 while in females it had dropped by four to 202 in the last year. It means the rate of suicides in males was almost three times as high as the rate in females.

The average age of death for suicides has also increased, with it rising from 41.9 in the year 2000 to 46.6 in the latest figures.

Figures for the entire UK are yet to be released for 2023 but based on 2022 date, Scotland had the highest rate of suicide deaths of all countries in the UK at 14.0 per 100,000 people. Wales was next at 12.4 deaths per 100,000 while Northern Ireland sat at 12.3 per 100,000 and England at 10.5 per 100,000.

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The figures released also show that remote small towns in Scotland have higher rates than urban areas, while the rate is higher than the Scottish average in Dundee City, Highland and East Ayrshire council areas.

Phillipa Haxton, Head of Vital Events Statistics, said: “The rate of suicide mortality has been consistently higher for males, and over the last 30 years it has been around three times as high as the female rate. 

“There were 2.5 times more deaths by suicide in the most deprived areas of Scotland than in the least deprived areas.

“Remote small towns have had the highest suicide rates for most of the last decade, with the lowest rates being found in large urban areas.”