Sensitive content
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NHS inform has a list of resources available to anyone, with many of these available 24 hours a day.
Samaritans can be called for free on 116 123 (UK and Republic of Ireland) or contacted via email at jo@samaritans.org. Visit the Samaritans website for more information.
If you are a journalist covering these statistics in the media, please consider following the guidelines issued by Samaritans on the reporting of suicide.
Main points
In 2025, there were 703 probable suicide deaths in Scotland, a decrease of one from 704 in 2024.
After adjusting for age, there were 14.2 probable suicide deaths per 100,000 people (aged 10 and over) in Scotland in 2025. This is the same rate as in 2024.
The rate of probable suicide mortality in males was 3.1 times the rate for females in 2025. Rates have been consistently higher for males since the series began, ranging from 2.6 to 3.7 times as high compared to females.
The rate of probable suicide mortality in the most deprived areas in Scotland was 2.7 times as high as in the least deprived areas in Scotland.
The gap in rates of probable suicide mortality between the most and least deprived areas has decreased since 2001. This was driven by a reduction of over 40% in the probable suicide mortality rate in the most deprived areas, since the start of the millennium.
At council area level, the age-standardised mortality rates of probable suicide deaths were statistically significantly higher than the Scottish average in Na h-Eileanan Siar, North Ayrshire, Dundee City, and Highland. Rates were statistically significantly lower than the Scottish average in East Renfrewshire, East Dunbartonshire, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire and City of Edinburgh.
In 2025, age-specific rates of probable suicide mortality were highest for those aged between 25 and 64. The rates for these age groups were over twice as high compared to those aged over 75 or under 25.
Since 2000, the average age at death for probable suicide deaths has generally increased, from 42.0 years in 2000 to 48.2 years in 2025. The figure for 2025 represents the joint oldest average age at death since 1980.
How are probable suicides defined?
Changes to methodology from previous publications
In our previous publications, we have defined probable suicide deaths to be deaths with an underlying cause of one of the following ICD-10 categories: X60-84, Y87.0: Intentional self-harm, or as Y10-34, Y87.2: Events of undetermined intent, for all age groups. To improve the accuracy of our statistics, and their coherence with suicide statistics produced for England and Wales by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and for Northern Ireland by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA), we have introduced age thresholds.
Deaths due to intentional self-harm and sequelae of intentional self-harm (ICD-10: X60-84, Y87.0; ICD-8 and ICD-9: E950-E959) are now included in the statistics only where the deceased was aged 10 and over.
Deaths due to events of undetermined intent and sequelae of events of undetermined intent (ICD-10: Y10-Y34, Y87.2; ICD-8 and ICD-9: E980-E989) are now included in the statistics only where the deceased was aged 15 and over, as the assumption that these events were due to intentional self-harm is not appropriate for younger children.
More information is available in the background document.
Coding for cause of death in Scotland is carried out according to the World Health Organization (WHO) ICD-10 framework. Deaths with an underlying cause of one of the following ICD-10 categories are counted as probable suicides:
ICD-10 codes | Description | Notes |
X60-84, Y87.0 | Intentional self-harm, sequelae of intentional self-harm | Persons aged 10 years and above |
Y10-34, Y87.2 | Events of undetermined intent, sequelae of events of undetermined intent | Persons aged 15 years and above |
We use the term ‘probable suicide’ in this report to reflect that these deaths include events of undetermined intent, as set out above.
Note: Sequelae refers to deaths occurring one year or more after the originating event.
Probable suicide deaths in Scotland
In 2025, there were 703 probable suicide deaths in Scotland, a decrease of one from 704 in 2024. (Figure 1).
Figure 1: The number of probable suicide deaths fell in the most recent year to the lowest number in the past eight years since 2017
Number of probable suicide deaths, 1974-2025
Source: Data from Table 1A
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The rate of mortality from probable suicides in Scotland was 14.2 per 100,000 people in 2025 (Figure 2), unchanged from 2024.
Figure 2: The age-standardised probable suicide mortality rate for all persons has remained the same in 2025 as it was in 2024. The age-standardised mortality rate for probable suicide deaths for males has been consistently higher than the corresponding rate for females.
Age-standardised mortality rate for probable suicide deaths, all persons, females and males, 1994-2025
Source Data from Table 1B
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Age-standardised mortality rates adjust for differences in age structure, allowing trends over time to be compared on a consistent basis. They are calculated using mid-year population estimates, meaning the rates calculated using these figures are also estimates. A confidence interval is a measure of the statistical precision of an estimate and shows the range of uncertainty around the estimated figure. They are based on the lower and upper 95% confidence limits for the age-standardised mortality rates. 95% confidence intervals are calculated so that, if the analysis to produce an estimate was repeated many times, 95% of the time the true unknown value would lie between the lower and upper confidence limits.
As a general rule, if the confidence interval around one figure overlaps with the interval around another, we cannot say with certainty that the difference between figures is statistically significant. Areas with smaller populations tend to have wider confidence intervals, indicating a greater amount of uncertainty their true value. For this reason, care must be taken when comparing age-standardised mortality rates between areas.
Probable suicide deaths by age and sex
In 2025, there were 522 male probable suicide deaths, an increase of four (1%) compared to 518 in 2024. There were 181 probable suicide deaths among females, a decrease of five (3%) from 201 in 2024.
The rate of probable suicide mortality in males was 3.1 times the rate for females in 2025. Rates have been consistently higher for males, ranging from 2.6 to 3.7 times as high as rates for females since the series began in 1994 (Figure 2).
Age-specific mortality rate refers to the total number of deaths per 100,000 people of a given age group. It is used because it allows comparisons between specified age groups of different sizes.
In 2025, age-specific rates of probable suicide deaths were highest for those aged between 25 and 64. (Figure 3).
Since 2000, the average age at death for probable suicide deaths has generally increased, from 42.0 years in 2000 to 48.2 years in 2025, which represented the joint oldest average age at death since 1980, with the average age also being 48.2 years in 2022.
Figure 3: In 2025, age-specific mortality rates of probable suicide deaths continued to be highest for those aged 25-44 and 45-64
Age-specific mortality rates of probable suicide deaths by age group, 1994-2025
Source: Data from Table 2C
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Probable suicide deaths in Scottish areas
Numbers of probable suicide deaths can fluctuate markedly from year to year, particularly for the smaller Health Board and Council areas. Therefore, in this section we use five-year moving averages to mitigate the effects of year-to-year fluctuations and provide a better indication of the overall long-term trend than the figures for the individual years.
However, while mortality rates are the most appropriate figures to use when making comparisons across area in Scotland, these five-year moving averages give equal weight to deaths in each of the five years so may not express more recent changes.
Some of the areas which have higher probable suicide mortality rates, such as island council areas and Health Boards, also have very wide confidence intervals due to having smaller populations. This means that there is a greater amount of uncertainty around estimates for these areas, so comparisons must be made with great caution. Please see ‘What are age-standardised mortality rates and confidence intervals?’ in Section 1 for more information on the uncertainty around estimates.
At council level, the age-standardised mortality rates of probable suicide deaths were statistically significantly higher than the Scottish average in Na h-Eileanan Siar, North Ayrshire, Dundee City, and Highland (Figure 4).
Rates were statistically significantly lower than the Scottish average in East Renfrewshire, East Dunbartonshire, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire and City of Edinburgh council areas.
Figure 4: Over the five year period from 2021 to 2025, probable suicide mortality rates were higher than the Scottish average in Na h-Eileanan Siar, North Ayrshire, Dundee City, and Highland
Age-standardised mortality rates of suicide deaths by council area, 2021-2025 average
Source: Data from Table 4B
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Data on probable suicide deaths in NHS Health Boards is available in the publication tables, which are available to download.
Probable suicide deaths by multiple deprivation quintile and urban-rural classification
The rate of probable suicide mortality in the most deprived areas in Scotland was 2.7 times higher than in the least deprived areas in Scotland in 2025. This compares to the rate in the most deprived areas being 2.5 times higher than in the least deprived areas in 2024. In 2025, the mortality rate for all causes of death per 100,000 population (of all ages) was 1.9 times greater in the most deprived areas compared to the least deprived areas. More information on mortality rates for causes other than probable suicides can be found in our Age-Standardised Death Rates publication.
The probable suicide mortality rate in the most deprived areas was over 40% lower in 2025 than in 2001. This has driven a reduction in the gap between rates of probable suicide between the most and least deprived areas since 2001, when the rate in the most deprived areas was 3 times higher than in the least deprived areas (Figure 5).
Figure 5: The gap between probable suicide mortality rates in the most and least deprived areas has narrowed since the start of the millennium, largely driven by a decrease in rates in the most deprived areas
Age-standardised mortality rates in SIMD quintiles, 2001-2025
Source: Data from Table 5
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Generally there has been less of a clear pattern when comparing probable suicide mortality rates between more urban and more rural areas over time. Probable suicide mortality rates have been highest in remote small towns for most of the last decade, and in 2025 rates were higher in remote small towns and remote rural areas compared to more urban areas and accessible rural areas (Figure 6).
Figure 6: In 2025, mortality rates for probable suicide deaths were lowest in large urban areas and accessible rural areas
Age-standardised mortality rates by urban rural classification, 2011-2025
Source: Data from Table 6
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Method of suicide
Almost three fifths (58%) of all probable suicide deaths in 2025 were by hanging, strangulation or suffocation. This has been the most common cause for most of the last two decades, with the proportion of probable suicide deaths due to hanging, strangulation or suffocation having been increasing since 1974. Poisoning was the most common method between 1974 and the start of the new century. In 2025, just over one fifth (21%) of probable suicides were due to poisoning. The proportion of probable suicides that were due to poisoning has fallen substantially since 1974 (Figure 7).
Figure 7: Deaths by hanging, strangulation or suffocation continue to make up the largest proportion of probable suicide deaths
Method as a percentage of all probable suicide deaths, 1974-2025
Source: Data from Table 8B
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No deaths were recorded as "Jumping or lying in front of a moving object" before the year 2000, as a code for this method did not exist in ICD-8 or ICD-9.
Suicide deaths in the UK
In our previous Probable Suicides publications, there were some differences in how Probable Suicides were counted across the UK. As set out in the methodology changes section above, our statistics are now more comparable to those produced by ONS and NISRA for England and Wales, and Northern Ireland.
In 2025, rates were highest in Wales (14.3 per 100,000 population) followed by Scotland (14.2 deaths per 100,000), and England had a lower rate (11.1 deaths per 100,000). Comparable suicide statistics for Northern Ireland for 2025 are yet to be released.
Probable suicide death statistics in the rest of the UK are produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA). Links to the latest versions of these are available below.
Other information
If you are a journalist covering these statistics in the media, please consider following the guidelines issued by Samaritans on the reporting of suicide.
If you are struggling to cope, help is available.
NHS inform has a list of resources available to anyone, with many of these available 24 hours a day.
Samaritans can be called for free on 116 123 (UK and Republic of Ireland) or contacted via email at jo@samaritans.org. Visit the Samaritans website for more information.
Notes on statistical publications
These statistics are designated as Accredited Official Statistics. More information about Official Statistics can be found on the Statistics governance and consultation page.
We also provide information about upcoming publications on our website.
If you would like receive updates on our statistics, you can register your interest on the Scottish Government ScotStat website.
