Probable suicide the leading cause of death in young people in Scotland

Suicide is the leading cause of death among people aged between five and 24 in Scotland, new figures show.

A report released by Public Health Scotland on Tuesday found that 25.7% of all deaths of a young person between 2011 and 2020 was due to a probable suicide, compared to 1.2% of people over the age of 25.

When broken down by age group, 10.6% of children aged between 10 and 14 died by "suicide and injury/poisoning of undetermined intent", compared to 26.4% of those aged between 15 and 19 and 31.1% of the 20 to 24-year-old age group.

The rate fell from 8.1 suicides per 100,000 in 2011 to 4.4 in 2015, the figures show, before more than doubling to 9.2 in 2019.

The least well-off Scots were twice as likely as their more affluent counterparts to take their own lives, the figures showed.

In 2020, the rate of probable suicide among those living in the most affluent areas was 5.1 per 100,000, compared to 12.4 for those in the poorest areas.

The figures also exposed a sharp disparity between suicide rates in young men and young women, with a rate of 10.8 per 100,000 for males compared to 3.8 for females.

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