Suicide is a leading cause of premature death worldwide. In the UK, over 6,500 people die each year from suicide. The study team wanted to explore potential differences in suicide rates between different ethnic groups living in the UK. To do this, they used linked data from the 2011 census and the Public Health Research Database to calculate suicide rates among the 18 self-identified ethnic groups listed on the census.

Females identifying as Mixed White/Caribbean or Gypsy/Irish Traveller were twice as likely as the White-British majority to die by suicide. Rates in males who identified as being from these two groups and those identifying as White Irish were similar to the White British majority. The research team found that more men than women had died by suicide across all ethnic groups, with considerably higher rates in men who identified as Black Other than their female counterparts.

The higher rates of suicide among people identifying as Mixed-heritage or as the descendants of migrants could be associated with feelings of being ‘in-between’ ethnic identities or having their ethnic identity questioned by others. These experiences can be distressing and have been shown to be associated with suicidal ideation and attempts.

Lower suicide rates among first-generation migrants could be linked to the impact of stronger religious beliefs among people from ethnic minority groups, or greater community cohesion and support through extended family networks. The lower rate could also be due to a potentially greater rate of misclassification of suicide in people perceived as non-White. Previous research has found evidence of greater levels of misclassification in non-White ethnic minority groups.

Read the NIHR Bristol Biomedical Research Centre news item

Paper: Knipe D et al. (2024). Ethnicity and suicide in England and Wales: a national linked cohort study. The Lancet Psychiatry. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(24)00184-6/fulltext