To ask the Minister of Finance to detail the number of lives lost to suicide in each of the last five years.

The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) collates data on death registrations.

There are some situations where the registration of the death can be delayed, specifically where the death has been accidental, unexpected or suspicious, and must be referred to the Coroner, only to be registered after completion of the investigation. Such deaths may not appear in published statistics until at least six months after the death occurred. Suicides registered during a particular time will therefore not be reflective of suicides that actually occurred in that period.

At present, NISRA recommends that users of suicide statistics refer to the subset of ‘self-inflicted injury’ as the most accurate count in relation to trends. This is due to an ongoing review of the coverage of the sub-category ‘undetermined intent’. Further information on the review is available in the guidance note provided at https://www.nisra.gov.uk/publications/suicide-statistics.

Data on number of deaths are available up to the end of March 2021 at Registrar General Quarterly Tables Quarter 1 2021 | Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (nisra.gov.uk). The table provides the number of deaths as a result of self-inflicted injury (ICD code X60-X84 &Y87.0) in each of years 2016 to 2020 and includes data from Quarter 1 2021. Data for the years 2016 to 2019 are final, whereas 2020 & 2021 data are still provisional.

(1) Deaths by self-inflicted injury are a sub-set of suicide deaths; deaths of undetermined intent are excluded.

*provisional