Warning: This article discusses suicide. If you need help, contact Lifeline on 0800 543 354 or text 4357 (HELP). 

The number of people who die each year in suspected suicides has remained essentially unchanged. 

New data, released today by the chief coroner for the year to June 2023, shows the suspected suicide rate was 10.6 per 100,000 people. In the year, 565 people died by suspected suicide. 

This compares 10.5 per 100,000 or 551 people in the year prior. 

Acting director of the Suicide Prevention Office Dr Sarah Hetrick said suicide had a devastating impact on whānau and reducing the rates required a government-wide response that addressed structural determinants such as poverty, racism, discrimination and post-colonial legacy. 

“We collect, use and publish this suicide information as an important way to understand how we are progressing towards an Aotearoa that does not experience suicide. However, first and foremost we must acknowledge the devastating impact on whānau bereaved by this experience,” Hetrick said. 

“We also need to reduce exposure to factors that increase the risk of suicide such as violence of all types, alcohol-related harm, stand-down and exclusion from schools and harmful communication about self-harm and suicide.” 

Māori are more likely to die by suicide than non-Māori. Although the latest data shows a slight decrease in the suspected suicide rates for Māori, the rate is still higher than other ethnicities. In the year to June 2023, the rate for Māori was 15.8 per 100,000, three times higher than the latest rates for Asian and Pacific populations. 

The chief coroner said there had been a “statistically significant reduction” in the rates for Pacific populations, which is now 5.1 per 100,000 people, down from 9.2 for the year ending June 2022. 

Men are more than twice as likely to die by suicide than females. The suspected suicide rate for men in the year to June 2023 was 15.2 and 6 per 100,000 for females. 

The new data represents all deaths in New Zealand suspected to be suicides. The data is provisional because before a death can be legally described as a suicide, a coroner must rule that the death was self-inflicted. 

SUICIDE AND DEPRESSION 

Where to get help: 
• Lifeline: Call 0800 543 354 or text 4357 (HELP) (available 24/7) 
• Suicide Crisis Helpline: Call 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO) (available 24/7) 
• Youth services: (06) 3555 906 
• Youthline: Call 0800 376 633 or text 234 
• What's Up: Call 0800 942 8787 (11am to 11pm) or webchat (11am to 10.30pm) 
• Depression helpline: Call 0800 111 757 or text 4202 (available 24/7) 
• Helpline: Need to talk? Call or text 1737 If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111