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Sign in or register for an accountAccording to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 720,000 people take their own life every year worldwide; suicide is a significant leading cause of death in young adults, the third among those aged 15 to 29 years. In England, there were 14,222 registered premature deaths from suicide between 2020 and 2022 among people aged 15 to 74 years. This corresponds to an average of 34.1 years of life lost per 10,000 people, an increase of three years from 2016-18 (31.1 years of life lost). This rise was due to an increase of suicide events among many age groups. Years of life lost is a measure of premature mortality and gives an estimate of the length of time a person would have lived had they not died prematurely. The younger the age of the deceased, the more the years of life lost is affected.
Suicide is often the end point of a complex history of risk factors and distressing events. The mental health charity Mind reports that one in four people have suicidal thoughts within their lifetime. The Suicide prevention strategy for England: 2023 to 2028 states that the following individuals are amongst high-risk groups:
From a cost perspective, suicide has a significant impact on the whole of society. According to the Samaritans, suicide had an overall cost of at least £9.58 billion in the UK in 2022. This is an average of £1.46 million per suicide, while the cost of a suicide for someone aged 30-34 is £1.75 million. This is based on the value which society places on an unexpected loss of life and the loss felt by loved ones. Costs also include the future that the person who died could have had, which they would have spent contributing to society (for example by working or volunteering). The cost analysis was based on a total of 6,558 deaths by suicide recorded in 2022.
According to the most recent figures, a total of 116 suicide events (92 males, 24 females) were recorded in Salford between 2022 and 2024 for residents aged ten years or older. After accounting for population differences between age groups, that count of suicide deaths corresponded to a standardised rate of 15.2 deaths per 100,000 people and was significantly higher than the England average of 10.9 deaths per 100,000 population.
The chart below shows the suicide rates overtime in Salford from 2001-03 to 2022-24, and how they compared with England. On average, suicide rates in Salford decreased between 2004-06 and 2012-14, after a rise in previous years, and were mostly not significantly higher than the England rates. However, since 2012-14 rates in both Salford and England have slightly increased on average: There were 10.0 deaths per 100,000 people in Salford in 2012-14 compared to 15.2 in 2022-244; a rise by 5.2 deaths per 100,000 people, or just over half again, over a decade. In England, suicide rates rose from 10.0 deaths per 100,000 people to 10.9 in 2022-24; a slight increase by 0.9 deaths per 100,000.
Suicide rates in Salford are typically higher than the England average.
[Download the suicide rate data chart (csv format, 2kb)]
A similar indicator related to suicide, ‘Years of life lost’, shows that between 2020 and 2022, there were 81 deaths from suicide in Salford for people aged 15 to 74 years. That accounted for a rate of 40.3 years of life lost per 10,000 population aged 15 to 74 years, which was above the England average of 34.1 years of life lost per 10,000 people, albeit not significantly different from the national value.
The rate of years of life lost through suicide in Salford has not seen a significant change but has risen nationally since 2017-2019.
Men are significantly more at risk of taking their own life than women. Data from Salford evidence that over the past two decades (from 2001-03 to 2022-24), the suicide rate among males has consistently been significantly higher than the rate among females, with the exception of 2018-20, when the two rates were statistically similar. In 2022-24, the suicide rate among males aged 10+ years in Salford was 24.4 deaths per 100,000 people, just over four times higher than the female rate of 6.0 deaths per 100,000 over the same period. This gender related inequality is also reflected nationally: Across England in 2022-24, 16.8 males aged 10+ years per 100,000 took their own life, compared with 5.5 females per 100,000. That was just over three times the female rate.
An analysis by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on sociodemographic inequalities in suicides in England and Wales: 2011 to 2021 demonstrates that rates of suicide are highest in the White and Mixed/Multiple ethnic groups, but lowest for the Arab ethnic group.
Men and women living in the most deprived areas tend to have higher suicide rates than those living in the least deprived areas. However, the gap between the most and the least deprived areas is only seen in people of working age.
Salford’s long-established Suicide Prevention Partnership brings together professionals from a wide range of disciplines from across the private, public and community voluntary sectors, including people with lived experience. The remit of this group is to oversee the delivery of the Greater Manchester and national suicide prevention strategies within Salford.
Here are some examples of the action being taken to prevent suicide in Salford:
The Coroner provides real-time reports of suspected suicides for immediate response, allowing the partnership to react swiftly to new methods or locations of suicide. In addition, continuous review of evidence-based practices is also conducted to enhance local operational services.
The partnership focuses on priority groups (e.g., middle-aged men) that are either considered to be at greater risk of suicide or would benefit from targeted intervention. Therefore, where necessary, funding are allocated towards community and voluntary sector initiatives to help improve risk factors’ outcomes, such as mental health.
Training support is offered to professionals (e.g. as part of the Poverty Truth Commission) and land-based gambling operators to recognise suicide signs of suicide and signpost into appropriate support services. Other risk factors include domestic abuse, social isolation, loneliness, substance misuse, and care proceedings.
Efforts are made across Salford to promote online safety for both adults and children and young people. Also, the partnership works with Samaritans to ensure responsible local/regional/national media reporting on suicides.
While individuals at immediate risk of suicide will always be supported/directed to attend A&E, an alternative crisis support provision is available in the ‘Listening Lounge’. Dependent on the level of need, people in crisis can access a mental health assessment from clinical mental health practitioners or more informal support from non-clinical Recovery and Peer Support Workers from the community voluntary sector.
Reducing access to methods and means of suicide is an ongoing challenge. Data is routinely used to inform the partnership about high-frequency locations for attempts and completed suicides. Mitigating action is taken to make suicide attempts much more difficult, as well as encouraging suicidal individuals to seek support.
Salford residents who have been affected by suicide have access to both local bereavement support and the Greater Manchester Bereavement Service. This offer is made shortly after the event and in the case of the Greater Manchester Bereavement Service, the aim is to respond to requests for support within 72 hours after referral, allowing for deaths which occur on the weekend but contact with the individual could be much sooner.
The partnership promotes mental health and suicide prevention awareness through various channels, including the council and NHS GM social media channels, the quarterly ‘Life’ free publication, GP surgeries and council webpages.
Local awareness programmes/campaigns such as the ‘Month of Hope’ are delivered to encourage everyone in Greater Manchester to have open conversations about and play a role in preventing suicide.
Training support is provided to partners in the private, public and community voluntary sectors to raise awareness and prevent suicide.