New data suggests Tyneside area has highest estimated suicide risk in the UK
A Tyneside region has been named as the UK area with the highest estimated suicide risk.
The report comes following National Suicide Prevention Day, which took place on Wednesday, September 10 this year.
For the first time ever, suspected suicides have been mapped to every single constituency in the UK by data and polling platform Suffrago.
Previously, these critical figures were only available at a local authority level.
It reveals Washington and Gateshead South has the highest estimated suicide risk (43 predicted cases), followed by Bristol North West (37 cases) and Manchester Rusholme (36 cases). The latest data from 2023 shows clear regional patterns, with northern constituencies featuring prominently in the highest-risk areas.
"With something as sensitive as suicide, prevention begins with understanding the scale of the problem, yet that picture has been missing at a local level," said Dr Simon Wallace, co-founder at Suffrago and author of the report.
"At Suffrago, we've built this picture of suicide risk by constituency because we believe we can't prevent what we can't see” he adds. “By shining a light on where help is most needed, we give communities and health the insight to have the conversations that save lives, and every life saved matters."
The research confirms established patterns showing higher suicide rates in more deprived areas and among middle-aged men, while providing new insight at a constituency level.
Suffrago's analysis incorporates demographic factors including age, gender, and deprivation to model probable suicide rates across all 650 UK parliamentary constituencies, using official data from the Office for National Statistics, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, and National Records Scotland.
Two other areas across the North East were included in the top ten most at-risk areas. These were Blyth and Ashington with 43 predicted cases and Cramlington and Killingworth with 23 predicted cases.
If you are experiencing distress or are affected by any of the issues discussed in this report, support is available. You can contact Samaritans 24 hours a day, 365 days a year for free on 116 123 or visit www.samaritans.org.