Suicide in middle-aged men up

The new concern in male suicide is the 45-74 age group.

Suicide rates published today by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) show a general downward trend. There were 5,608 suicides in people aged 15 years and over in the UK in 2010, 67 fewer than the 5,675 recorded in 2009. Of these 4,231 were men, 1,377 were women.

The male rate is 17.0 per 100,000 population, the female rate is 5.3 per 100,000 population. Although the numbers have been gradually falling, these rates have remained fairly steady over the 2006 to 2010 period.

Suicide rates tend to be highest among young men aged 15–44. These peaked at 18.6 per 100,000 in 2008.

The new cause for concern is older men where the rate continues to rise. Since 2007, rates for men aged 45–74 have been increasing and in 2010 they experienced the highest suicide rate at 17.7 per 100,000.

Colin Penning, the Forum's external affairs officer, said 'We have been highlighting the high rate of suicide in men for some years and our reports Untold Problems and Delivering Male look at how we can tackle men's mental health. Our 2009 conference on men's health and heard that how uncertainty about jobs could hit men's mental health. The increase in suicides among older men might be a symptom of this.'

The lowest suicide rate among men in 2010 was for those aged 75 and over at 14.6 per 100,000.