Suicide data web tool

The suicide data web tool presents data on confirmed suicides reported by Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora, as well as data on suspected self-inflicted deaths reported by the Chief Coroner.

Numbers and rates of suicide deaths are presented by year, ethnicity, sex, age group and district of residence of the deceased.

In Aotearoa New Zealand, suicide data is reported both by Health New Zealand and the Chief Coroner.

The Chief Coroner releases data on suspected self-inflicted deaths, including those where a coroner has not yet established if the death was from self-harm.

Health New Zealand releases official suicide data, comprising suicide deaths that have been confirmed to be suicide by the Chief Coroner, in addition to deaths provisionally coded as suicide, when enough information has been received to suggest that the eventual confirmed cause will be suicide.

The web tool contains data for confirmed suicides up to 2021, and suspected self-inflicted deaths up to the 2024/25 financial year. Data on suspected self-inflicted deaths is available from the Chief Coroner three to four years before confirmed suicide data is complete enough to be released by Health New Zealand.

Health New Zealand waits to publish confirmed suicide information until such time as coroners have completed most investigations.

Numbers of suspected self-inflicted deaths reported by the Chief Coroner are generally higher than the confirmed numbers of suicide deaths reported by Health New Zealand, as some suspected self-inflicted deaths will later be found not to be suicides.

Overview

• In the 2024/25 financial year, there were 630 suspected self-inflicted deaths in Aotearoa New Zealand. The age-standardised rate of suspected self-inflicted deaths was 11.0 (95% CI: 10.7, 11.2) per 100,000 population.

• The rate of suspected self-inflicted deaths in the 2024/25 financial year was 3.1% lower than the average rate of suspected self-inflicted deaths over the last 16 financial years. This was not a statistically significant difference.

By Māori/non-Māori

• When compared to the average rate over the last 16 years, there was no significant change in rates in 2024/25 for either Māori or non-Māori.

• From the 2008/09 financial year to the 2024/25 financial year, Māori males had the highest rates of suspected self-inflicted deaths.

• In the 2024/25 financial year, the rate of suspected self-inflicted deaths for Māori males was 28.1 per 100,000 Māori male population. This was about 2 times that of non-Māori males, who had a rate of 14.2 per 100,000 non-Māori male population. In the same financial year, the rate of suspected self-inflicted deaths for Māori females was 8.6 per 100,000 Māori female population. This was about 1.7 times that of non-Māori females, who had a rate of 5.1 per 100,000 non-Māori female population.

• In the 2024/25 financial year, the difference in rates of suicide between Māori and non-Māori was most notable in the 25–44 years age group. In this year, the rate for Māori females was about 2 times that for non-Māori females in the same age group (11.4 vs 5.8 per 100,000 25–44 age group population). The rate for Māori males was about 2.9 times that for non-Māori males in the same age group (55.4 vs 19.0 per 100,000 25–44 age group population).

By prioritised ethnicity

• In 2024/25, Māori had the highest rate of suspected suicide at 18.0 per 100,000 population (95% CI: 17.3, 18.8) followed by European/Other at 12.1 per 100,000 population (95% CI: 11.8, 12.5), Pacific population at 7.4 per 100,000 population (95% CI: 6.7, 8.2) and Asian population at 3.5 per 100,000 population (95% CI: 3.2, 3.8).

• When compared to the average rate over the last 16 years, there was no significant change in rates in 2024/25 for any ethnicity.

• The ethnic category 'European/Other' includes anyone who does not identify with Māori, Pacific, or Asian ethnic groups. This includes European, Middle-Eastern, Latin American, African, and other ethnic groups. 

By sex

• In the 2024/25 financial year, there were 474 male suspected self-inflicted deaths and 156 female suspected self-inflicted deaths.

• In the 2024/25 financial year, the rate of suspected self-inflicted deaths for males was 16.2 per 100,000 males, and the rate of suspected self-inflicted deaths for females was 5.8 per 100,000 females.

• In the 2024/25 financial year, the age standardised rate of suspected self-inflicted deaths for males was not a statistically significant change from the average of the last 16 financial years.

• In the same time period, the age standardised rate of suspected self-inflicted deaths for females was not a statistically significant change from the average of the last 16 financial years.

By neighbourhood deprivation

• In 2024/25, the more deprived neighbourhoods of New Zealand (deprivation quintile 5) had the highest rate of suspected suicide at 11.8 per 100,000 population (95% CI: 11.3, 12.4) and the less deprived areas of New Zealand (deprivation quintile 1) had the lowest rate of suspected suicide at 8.4 per 100,000 population (95% CI: 7.9, 8.9).

In this web tool, the confirmed suicide numbers and all rates have been recalculated to reflect ongoing updates to data in the New Zealand Mortality Collection (for example, following the release of coroners' findings) and the revision of population estimates. The numbers and rates of death from suspected self-harm are also updated in each release, to reflect updates to the data held by the Coronial Services team.

This has resulted in small changes to some numbers and rates from those reported in previous publications.

This web tool presents data to the latest year for which data is available for publication.

We have quality checked the collection, extraction, and reporting of the data presented here. However, errors can occur. Please contact us through the Data Services team at Health New Zealand if you have any concerns regarding any of the data or analyses presented here.

Health New Zealand makes no warranty, expressed or implied, nor assumes legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, correctness or use of the information or data in this tool.