Suicide rates lower for almost all ethnic minority groups living in England and Wales

Suicide rates among almost all ethnic minority groups living in England and Wales are lower than among the majority White-British population. However, this does not apply to people from a Mixed-heritage background and those identifying as Gypsy / Irish Travellers, according to a study published in Lancet Psychiatry.

Suicide is a leading cause of premature death worldwide. In the UK, over 6,500 people die each year from suicide. The study team wanted to explore potential differences in suicide rates between different ethnic groups living in the UK. To do this, they used linked data from the 2011 census and the Public Health Research Database to calculate suicide rates among the 18 self-identified ethnic groups listed on the census.

Females identifying as Mixed White/Caribbean or Gypsy/Irish Traveller were twice as likely as the White-British majority to die by suicide. Rates in males who identified as being from these two groups and those identifying as White Irish were similar to the White British majority. The research team found that more men than women had died by suicide across all ethnic groups, with considerably higher rates in men who identified as Black Other than their female counterparts.

The higher rates of suicide among people identifying as Mixed-heritage or as the descendants of migrants could be associated with feelings of being ‘in-between’ ethnic identities or having their ethnic identity questioned by others. These experiences can be distressing and have been shown to be associated with suicidal ideation and attempts.

Lower suicide rates among first-generation migrants could be linked to the impact of stronger religious beliefs among people from ethnic minority groups, or greater community cohesion and support through extended family networks. The lower rate could also be due to a potentially greater rate of misclassification of suicide in people perceived as non-White. Previous research has found evidence of greater levels of misclassification in non-White ethnic minority groups.

Higher rate of suicide in Gypsy or Irish Travellers could relate to the higher levels of mental and physical illness affecting the community. These issues, along with delayed help-seeking, poor access to care, lower educational attainment, insecure accommodation and economic exclusion, could be the driving force behind higher suicide rates among this group.

Dr Duleeka Knipe, Associate Professor in Global Mental Health in the Bristol Medical School: Population Health Sciences (PHS), and lead author, said:

“During this study we found that the rate of suicide was consistently lower among migrants than non-migrants, regardless of ethnicity. This is despite ethnic minority individuals experiencing more risk factors for suicide than the White-British majority population.

“The availability of census linked suicide mortality data has helped shine a light on previously overlooked demographic groups. We now need to better understand the drivers of these ethnic disparities in suicide risk to inform effective future suicide prevention strategies.

“We need to be cautious, however, in interpreting these statistics. This is the best we have in terms of national data, but that doesn’t mean that this is the best data for looking at ethnic differences in suicide rates.

“We must rely on what is recorded, and it’s quite possible that the lower rate of suicide reported in our study for almost all ethnic minority groups could reflect greater misclassification of suicide in these groups.”