Thirty-year low in suicides

The number of suicides in UK reached a thirty-year low in 2003.

According to the Office for National Statistics there were 5,755 adult suicides in the UK in 2003, the lowest number since 1973.

Men accounted for nearly three-quarters of the suicides, a gender gap that has widened since 1971 when men accounted for just over half of all suicides.

There were also significant regional differences with the highest rates of suicide for men in Wales, the North West and North East and the lowest rates in the London and the South East. The regional pattern is not as clear for women, though it is roughly on the same lines.