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Suicide deaths in 2003
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General trends
- A total of 515 people died by suicide, compared with 465 in 2002.
- The age-standardised suicide rate for the total population was 11.5 per 100,000, compared to 10.8 per 100,000 population in 2002 (Figure 2).
- The three-year moving average age-standardised rate of suicide for the total population increased to a peak of 14.0 deaths per 100,000 population for the 1995–1997 period and then declined until the most recent period (2001–2003) to 11.4 deaths per 100,000 population.
The age-standardised rate and three-year moving average age-standardised rate are presented in Figure 2. The three-year moving average age-standardised rate provides a clearer picture of trends over time, smoothing out the annual variations in the age-standardised rate.
Figure 2 (below): Suicide death rates, 1983–2003 (Source: New Zealand Health Information Service. Rates are per 1000,000, age-standardised to Segi’s world population.)
- Three hundred and seventy-four males died by suicide, compared with 352 in 2002
- The age-standardised suicide rate for males was 16.9 per 100,000 population, compared with 16.7 per 100,000 population in 2002.
- One hundred and forty-one females died by suicide, compared with 113 in 2002.
- The age-standardised rate of suicide for females was 6.2 per 100,000 population, compared with 5.3 per 100,000 population in 2002.
- The age-standardised rate of suicide for females was stable between 1983 and 1999. After 2000 there was a general increase in the female rate (Figure 3).
Figure 3 (below): Suicide death rate, by sex, 1983–2003 (Source: New Zealand Health Information Service)
- The all-ages sex ratio for the age-standardised suicide rate in New Zealand was 2.7 male suicides to every female suicide per 100,000 population. The youth suicide (15–24 years) rate ratio was 2.0 male suicides to every female suicide per 100,000 population.
Trends by ethnicity
Māori
- Eighty-seven Māori died by suicide, compared to 80 in 2002.
- The age-standardised rate of suicide for Māori was 13.5 deaths per 100,000 population, compared to 12.8 per 100,000 population in 2002.
- Sixty-seven were male, compared to 59 in 2002.
- Twenty were female, compared to 21 in 2002.
Figure 4 (below): Māori and non-Māori suicide death rates, 1996–2003. (Source: New Zealand Health Information Service)
- The age-standardised rate of suicide for Māori males was 21.1 deaths per 100,000 population, compared to the non-Māori male rate of 15.6 per 100,000 population.
- The age-standardised rate of suicide for Māori females was 6.4 deaths per 100,000 population, compared to the non-Māori female rate of 5.9 per 100,000 population (Figure 4).
Pacific peoples
- Twenty-two Pacific peoples died by suicide (15 males and 7 females), compared to 18 deaths in 2002.
Asian
- Twenty-eight Asian people died by suicide (16 males and 12 females), compared to 12 deaths in 2002. However, this change is not statistically significant.
Trends by age group
Five-year age groups
- In 2003, among males, those aged 80–84 years had the highest age-specific suicide rate (34.2 deaths per 100,000 population), followed by those aged 75–79 years (31.4 deaths per 100,000 population) and then those aged 30–34 years (31.1 deaths per 100,000 population).
- In 2003, among females, 35–39-year-olds
- (14.6 per 100,000), 15–19-year-olds (11.1 per 100,000 population) and 20–24-year-olds (10.9 per 100,000 population) had the highest rates (Table 1).
Table 1: Suicide death rates, by five-year age group and sex, 2000 and 2003.
Age group | 2000 | 2003 | ||||||
Males | Females | Males | Females | |||||
Number | Rate | Number | Rate | Number | Rate | Number | Rate | |
5–9 | 0 | – | 0 | – | 0 | – | 0 | – |
10–14 | 3 | – | 1 | – | 4 | – | 1 | – |
15–19 | 31 | 22.0 | 11 | 8.3 | 35 | 23.1 | 16 | 11.1 |
20–24 | 50 | 38.3 | 4 | – | 29 | 20.5 | 15 | 10.9 |
25–29 | 58 | 45.0 | 13 | 9.5 | 35 | 28.4 | 11 | 8.6 |
30–34 | 47 | 34.3 | 8 | 5.4 | 44 | 31.1 | 11 | 7.1 |
35–39 | 40 | 26.8 | 11 | 7.0 | 37 | 25.2 | 23 | 14.6 |
40–44 | 25 | 17.6 | 6 | 4.1 | 44 | 28.7 | 7 | 4.3 |
45–49 | 23 | 18.1 | 7 | 5.4 | 34 | 24.9 | 13 | 9.2 |
50–54 | 25 | 21.0 | 6 | 5.1 | 28 | 22.8 | 13 | 10.4 |
55–59 | 21 | 23.0 | 5 | – | 21 | 19.7 | 4 | – |
60–64 | 11 | 14.8 | 5 | – | 18 | 21.3 | 6 | 6.9 |
65–69 | 12 | 18.9 | 2 | – | 8 | 12.1 | 4 | – |
70–74 | 13 | 22.9 | 0 | – | 11 | 19.2 | 6 | 9.5 |
75–79 | 5 | – | 0 | – | 14 | 31.4 | 3 | – |
80–84 | 6 | 27.0 | 3 | – | 9 | 34.2 | 5 | – |
85+ | 5 | – | 1 | – | 3 | – | 3 | – |
Total | 375 | 19.9 | 83 | 4.3 | 374 | 19.0 | 141 | 6.9 |
| Source: New Zealand Health Information Service. Note: “–” indicates that the rate was suppressed as there were five or fewer deaths in this age group. | ||||||||
Life-cycle age groups
- In 2003, among males, 25–44-year-olds had the highest age-specific suicide rate (28.4 per 100,000 population).
- In 2003, among females, 15–24-year-olds had the highest age-specific suicide rate (11.0 per 100,000 population) (Table 2).
Table 2: Suicide death rates, by life-cycle age group and sex, 2000 and 2003.
Age group | 2000 | 2003 | ||||||
Males | Females | Males | Females | |||||
Number | Rate | Number | Rate | Number | Rate | Number | Rate | |
5–14 | 3 | – | 1 | – | 4 | – | 1 | – |
15–24 | 81 | 15.3 | 15 | 5.8 | 64 | 21.9 | 31 | 11.0 |
25–44 | 170 | 30.5 | 38 | 6.4 | 160 | 28.4 | 52 | 8.7 |
45–64 | 80 | 19.4 | 23 | 5.5 | 101 | 22.4 | 36 | 7.8 |
65+ | 41 | 20.8 | 6 | 2.4 | 45 | 21.4 | 15 | 7.9 |
Total | 375 | 19.9 | 83 | 4.3 | 374 | 19.0 | 141 | 6.9 |
| Source: New Zealand Health Information Service. Note: “–” indicates that the rate was suppressed as there were five or fewer deaths in this age group. | ||||||||
- The age-specific rate of suicide among 15–24-year-olds was 16.5 deaths per 100,000 population (95 deaths). The rate was 21.9 deaths per 100,000 population for males (64 deaths) and 11.0 deaths per 100,000 population for females (31 deaths).
- The age-specific rate of suicide among 25–44-year-olds was 18.2 deaths per 100,000 population (212 deaths). The rate was 28.4 deaths per 100,000 population for males (160 deaths) and 8.7 deaths per 100,000 population for females (52 deaths).
- The age-specific rate of suicide among 45–64-year-olds was 15.1 deaths per 100,000 population (137 deaths). The rate was 22.4 deaths per 100,000 population for males (101 deaths) and 7.8 deaths per 100,000 population for females (36 deaths).
- The age-specific rate of suicide among people aged 65+ years was 13.9 deaths per 100,000 population (66 deaths). The rate was 21.4 deaths per 100,000 population for males (45 deaths) and 7.9 deaths per 100,000 population for females (21 deaths).
Trends by region
District Health Boards (2001–2003)
Figure 5 displays age-standardised suicide rates in 2001–2003 per 100,000 population by DHB.
- The lowest rate of suicide in 2001–2003 was recorded in Auckland DHB (8.0 suicides per 100,000 population).
- The highest rate of suicide in 2001–2003 was recorded in Hawke’s Bay DHB (18.0 suicides per 100,000 population).
Figure 5 (below): Suicide death rates, by District Health Board, 2001–2003. (Source: New Zealand Health Information Service)
Figure 6 shows high rates of suicide in eastern North Island DHBs compared to the rates in other DHBs.
Figure 6 (below): Map of age-standardised suicide rates, by District Health Board, 2001–2003 (Source: New Zealand Health Information Service)
Deprivation
Age-standardised suicide rates for 2001–2003 were calculated by NZDep2001 quintiles and are presented in Figure 7.
The least deprived areas of New Zealand had a suicide rate of 8.8 per 100,000 population compared to 13.2 per 100,000 population in the most deprived areas of New Zealand.
Figure 7 (below): Suicide death rates, by NZDep2001 quintile, 2001–2003 (Source: New Zealand Health Information Service)