It's important to remember that when we are talking about the statistics around deaths by suicide, we aren't talking about numbers - they are people, with loved ones who are missed. Suicide statistics are measured using the rate of people who have died by suicide per 100,000 people in that population.
In Australia
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In 2021, there were 3,144 deaths by suicide with an age-standardised rate of 12.0 per 100 000. The 2021 rate of deaths by suicide represents a slight reduction from 2020 data (12.1 per 100 000) and 2019 data (13.1 per 100 000).
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Of the deaths by suicide in 2021, 2358 were males (18.2 per 100 000) and 786 were females (6.1 per 100 000). Further, 219 of those deaths were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with an age-standardised suicide rate of 27.1 per 100 000 people
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The overall suicide rate for males has slightly decreased annually from 2019 to 2021. Between 2020 and 2021 the rate decreased by 2.3%. By contrast, the suicide rate for females increased from 2020 to 2021 by 5%.
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Young and middle-aged people are most likely to die by suicide: 81.9% of deaths by suicide were amongst people younger than 65 years. However, males aged over 85 years and 50-54 had the highest age specific suicide rates and accounted for 3.2% and 9.1% of males respectively.
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The jurisdiction with the highest suicide rate was the NT, at 18.4% per 100,00
In Tasmania
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The age-standardised suicide rate was 13.5 per 100,000 people.
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This represents a reduction in suicides from the 2020 age standardised rate, which was 15.1
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Tasmania has the 5th overall highest rate of suicide when compared to the other states and territories.
Lifeline factsheets
Lifeline Australia has created a number of factsheets for the benefit of all Australians. We have compiled links to these factsheets here for you to access whenever and however many times you may need.