Almost 80% of male deaths in 2022 were due to suicide, new statistics released today show

Almost 80% of male deaths in Ireland in 2022 were caused by suicide, new figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) today show. 

That is 49 people fewer than 2018, with the majority of people who died by suicide aged between 40 and 44. 

Over the five-year period from 2018 to 2022, 2020 recorded the largest number of female deaths due to suicide in a single year, at 142.

The five-year average of suicides in Ireland for the same time frame was 526.

However, due to a delay in deaths being registered, there can be a lag in the statistics.

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"In some cases they can be registered much later than the 22-month deadline to produce the CSO's Vital Statistics Annual Reports. This impact can be particularly pronounced in deaths due to external causes, which can include deaths due to suicide. Moreover, there may be differences in late registrations, when looking at data for different geographical regions,"  Seán O'Connor, Statistician in the Life Events and Demography section of the CSO, said.

For example, the 2022 Annual Report published on 31 October 2024, indicated that 436 deaths occurred due to suicide, but the updated figures in todays release show that that number actually stands at 500. 

Of the 500 people who died by suicide in 2022, just over seven in ten deaths were to those who were aged 35 years and over.

Males accounted for 77.8% of deaths by suicide, with the remainder being females.

In 2022, a total of 74 deaths of males aged 20 to 24 years were recorded, and of these, 35.1% were due to suicide.

This was the highest proportion of deaths due to suicide by age cohort for males.

For females, nearly two out of every ten (18%) deaths among females aged 25 to 29 years were due to suicide.

However, in absolute numbers, the age group 40 to 44 years for males and females had the highest number of suicides at 44 and 19, respectively.

Over one in every ten deaths (14.6%) due to suicide in 2022 were to those aged 65 years and older, which is an increase from 12.5% in 2021.

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Males aged between 40 to 44 years accounted for 8.8% of all deaths due to suicide in 2022, the highest proportion by cohort.

In 2022, 111 female deaths occurred due to suicide, with those aged 40 to 44 years accounting for the highest share.

During the five-year period between 2018 and 2022, deaths due to suicide as a share of all deaths stood at 1.6% nationally.

Cavan was the local authority where this share was highest and Kilkenny was lowest.

If you, or someone you know is impacted by this information, remember that support for your mental health is always available.

Contact Samaritans on Freephone 116 123, Text HELLO to 50808, or contact Pieta – anytime day or night.