Suicide Facts: 2005

Suicide Facts: 2005–2006 data
Public Health Intelligence Monitoring Report No. 15

Date of publication: November 2007

Summary

This report, part of a series of monitoring reports released annually, presents and summarises the latest suicide and intentional self-harm hospitalisation data available.

Latest statistics show:

Suicide deaths in 2005

A total of 502 people died by suicide in 2005, compared with 488 in 2004. The three-year moving average rate of suicide for 2003–2005 was 13.2 deaths per 100,000 population. This rate represents a 19.0% decrease from the 1996-1998 peak (16.3 per 100,000), and continues the downward trend of recent years.
The sub-groups of the population with the highest three-year moving suicide mortality rates in 2003–2005 were males, Māori (as opposed to non- Māori), those in the age group of 15–44 years, and those residing in the most deprived areas (deprivation quintile 5).
It was also evident that Wairarapa, Northland and MidCentral District Health Boards had significantly higher suicide rates than the national average in the 2003-2005 period.

Hospitalisations for intentional self-harm in 2006

There were 5400 hospitalisations for intentional self-harm in 2006, equating to a rate of 151.7 per 100,000 population. This represents a 7.5% increase from the rate in 2005 (141.1 per 100,000 or 4,992 hospitalisations).
The sub-groups of the New Zealand population with the highest intentional self-harm hospitalisation rates in 2006 were females, Māori (as opposed to non- Māori), those in the life-cycle stage 15–24 years, and those residing in the most deprived areas (quintile five).
It was also evident that MidCentral, Canterbury, Lakes, Waikato and Otago and significantly higher hospitalisation rates for self-harm than the national average in 2003–2005.

Publication availability

This publication is available in PDF format below:

Suicide Facts: 2005–2006 data (PDF, 211 KB)

This publication is also available in hard copy. You can order a copy by emailing moh@wickliffe.co.nz or calling 04 496 2277 quoting HP number 4491. Please let us know your name, your physical address and how many copies you would like.

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Publishing information

Date of publication: November 2007

ISBN numbers: Book 978-0-478-31239-3 , Website 978-0-478-31237-9

HP number: 4491

Citation: Ministry of Health. 2007. Suicide Facts: 2005–2006 data. Wellington: Ministry of Health.

Related information

Associate Minister of Health Jim Anderton's media release - Suicide statistics released
Suicide Prevention
Public Health Intelligence
Mental Health
PHIOnline
Suicide Prevention Information New Zealand (SPINZ)

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