Stats & Facts - Suicide Prevention Australia

Stats and Facts

We can never underestimate the impact that every life lost to suicide has on family, friends, workplaces and the broader community.

Each number represents a life lost along with the family, friends and communities who are grieving the loss of each of those people.

For support on communicating safely about suicide and self-harm data, please follow Everymind’s Mindframe guidelines.

3283 in group of people in shape of Australia

3,283 Australians died
by suicide in 2025.

Over 7 million
Australian adults are close to
someone who has died
by suicide or attempted suicide.

Suicide was the 15th
leading cause of death
overall in 2025.

The median age of death
by suicide was 45.0 years
in 2025.

Males are nearly 3
times more likely to die
by suicide than
females.

The suicide rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is three times the non-Indigenous suicide rate.

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ABS Causes of Death Data

The official national suicide statistics are calculated by calendar year and are published by the Australia Bureau of Statistics via the Causes of Death data release around October to November each year.

2025 Causes of Death

Overview

3,283 Australians died by suicide in 2025 compared to 3,326 in 2024.
The age-standardised rate of suicide (deaths per 100,000) has decreased from 11.9 in 2024 to 11.6 in 2025.
The median age of death by suicide was 45.0 years, compared to 81.9 for all causes of death.
Suicide was the 15th leading cause of death overall, increasing from 16th in 2024.
As in previous years, in 2025, suicide was the cause of death resulting in the highest number of potential years of life lost: 108,674 years. A person who died by suicide lost an average 35.3 years of life.
Note: As in previous years, the ABS notes the Causes of Death data is preliminary due to potential registration lag with coronial cases and is subject to revisions.

Males

Consistent with previous years, males are around three times more likely to die by suicide than females.
Males accounted for 73.9% of deaths by suicide (2,425 deaths). In 2024, males accounted for 76.3% of deaths by suicide (2,538 deaths).
Suicide remained the 11th leading cause of deaths for males, with the median age at death 45.5 years.
The age-standardised suicide rate slightly decreased from 18.4 in 2024 to 17.3 in 2025.
Males aged 45-49 had the highest age-specific suicide rate (26.8 deaths per 100,000 people).
Males aged 35-39 accounted for the highest proportion of deaths due to suicide (10.7%). The age-specific suicide rate for this age group was 26.0 per 100,000.

Females

Suicide was the 27th leading cause of death for females, with a median age of 43.8 years.
The age-standardised suicide rate increased from 5.6 in 2024 to 6.0 deaths per 100,000 in 2025.
Females aged 55-59 years had the highest age-specific suicide rate (9.0 deaths per 100,000 people).
Females aged 40-44 accounted for the highest proportion of deaths due to suicide (9.6%). The age-specific suicide rate for this age group was 8.5 deaths per 100,000 people.
Between 2024 and 2025, females aged 75-79 had the largest increase in their age-specific suicide rate (up 2.5 deaths per 100,000 people).
There was an increase in the age-specific rate for females in all age groups under 25 years. Females aged between 70-74 years had the largest decrease in their age-specific suicide rate (6.4 to 3.7).

Children and young people

In 2025, there were 100 children who died by suicide which accounted for 21.1% of all child deaths (2.3 deaths per 100,000 people). This is an increase from 70 deaths in 2024 (1.6 per 100,000).
Males had a suicide rate of 2.1 per 100,000 children (47 deaths), up from 1.8 per 100,000 in 2024.
Females had a suicide rate of 2.5 per 100,000 children (53 deaths), up from 1.4 per 100,000 in 2024.
84% of children who died by suicide were aged 14-17 years (84 deaths).

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

In 2025 there were 320 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who died by suicide across Australia, and increase compared to 307 in 2024. This is the highest number in the last decade.
Excluding ACT and TAS, the age-standardised rate was 34.8 deaths per 100,000 people in 2025, an increase compared to 34.1 per 100,000 in 2024.
In 2025 there were 104 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander females who died by suicide. This is an increase of 42 deaths compared to 2024. There were 216 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males who died by suicide. This is a decrease of 29 deaths from 2024.
Suicide was the 5th leading cause of death for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across six jurisdictions (NSW, NT, QLD, SA, VIC, WA). For men it was the 3rd leading cause and 6th for females in 2025.
The median age of death by suicide of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples was 33.8 years across Australia, more than a decade younger than the median age of death by suicide for the general population of 45.0 years.
Over the five-year period 2021-2025 in the six jurisdictions, there were 68 suicides of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children (5.0 per 100,000 children), and was the leading cause of death for female Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. For male children, it was second to land transport accidents.

States and territories

The Northern Territory had the highest age-standardised rate of deaths by suicide at 18.6 per 100,000 people in 2025 (19.3 per 100,000 in 2024).
From 2024 to 2025, the suicide rate increased in Tasmania to 17.7 deaths per 100,000 (14.2 in 2024). This is the highest it has been since 2019.
In Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory, the 2025 suicide rate was similar to that recorded in 2024.
In New South Wales, Queensland, and Western Australia, the 2025 suicide rate was the lowest in the ten-year time series.
In the five-year period 2021-2025, the suicide rate in remote and very remote Australia was between 20.9 and 24.7 deaths per 100,000 people which is consistently higher than rates in both regional areas and major cities.
Major cities had the lowest rate across all years (between 9.8 and 10.9 deaths per 100,000 people).
2025 suicide rates in both major cities and outer regional Australia were similar to 2024.

Countries of birth

For the 5-year period 2021 to 2025, those born in Australia had a higher age-standardised suicide rate compared to those born in other regions. The suicide rate for people born in Australia was 14.5 per 100,000 people which is 1.8 times higher than the suicide rate for those born overseas which was 7.9 per 100,000 people.
Those with a country of birth in the region of Oceania and Antarctica (excluding Australia) had the highest suicide rate, at 13.0 per 100,000 people.
Those with a country of birth in the region of Southern and Central Asia had the lowest suicide rate, at 4.1 per 100,000 people. Those born in this region also had the lowest median age at death at 35.2 years.
The regions of North Africa and the Middle East, South-East Asia, Southern and Central Asia all had a lower median age at death due to suicide than those born in Australia.
Those born in England had the highest number of suicides (725 deaths) across 2021 to 2025. When adjusted for population size and age-structure, those with a country of birth in Northern Ireland had the highest suicide rate (21.0 deaths per 100,000 people) of those born overseas.

Suicide by socio-economic index

In 2025, the number of suicides and the suicide rate were highest among people living in areas with the lowest level of socio-economic (18.0 people per 100,000). The suicide rate was 2.4 times that of people living in areas with the highest level of socio-economic advantage (7.4 people per 100,000).
In the five-year period 2021-2025, the male suicide rate for those within the least advantaged quintile (20% of population) (1) was between 2.5 and 2.6 times higher than the male suicide rate in the most advantaged quintile (5).
The female suicide rate in the least advantaged quintile (1) was between 1.9 and 2.2 times higher than the female suicide rate in the most advantaged quintile (5).
Across all years for both males and females, the suicide rate is higher as relative disadvantage increases.

Suicide by occupation

The occupation major group with the highest suicide rate was Technicians and Trades Workers at 41.8.
For males aged 15-24 years, the highest suicide rate was for machinery operators and drivers. In those 25-54 years, the highest rate was for labourers and for males aged over 55 years the highest rate was for technicians and trades workers.
For females the suicide rate was highest for technicians and trades workers in most age groups except those 25-34 years where the rate of community and personal service workers was highest.
Notes: Rates have been calculated for those aged between 15-64 years. Death registrations may include reports of current or previous occupations. Census occupation data is based on work at the time of completing the 2021 Census. Rates should be interpreted with caution.

Risk factors

The proportion of suicide deaths recording at least one risk factor was 84.5% with psychosocial risk factors being the most commonly reported risk factor (present in almost 72.4% of deaths of people who died by suicide).
People who died by suicide had an average of 4.7 risk factors mentioned.
The three most frequently occurring risk factors for Australians of all ages were: mood [affective] disorders (35.8%), suicide ideation (30.7%) and problems in spousal relationship circumstances (26.7%).
The three most frequently occurring risk factors for men of all ages were: mood disorders (including depression) (33.9%), suicide ideation (30.2%) and problems in spousal relationship circumstances (28.6%).
The three most frequently occurring risk factors for women of all ages were: mood disorders (including depression) (40.9%), personal history of self-harm (36.0%) and anxiety and stress related disorders (32.1%).
Substance abuse was a more common risk factor for males than for females (20.8% vs 15.9%).

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2024 Causes of Death

Overview

3,307 Australians died by suicide in 2024 compared to 3,300 in 2023.
Taking Australia’s changing population into account, the age-standardised rate of suicide (deaths per 100,000) has decreased from 12.1 in 2023 to 11.8 in 2024 with a decrease of around 8.5% from 2015.
The median age of death by suicide was 46.0 years, compared to 82.0 for all causes of death.
Suicide was the 16th leading cause of death overall, remaining unchanged from 2023.
Suicide accounted for 15.9% of all child deaths in 2024.

Gender

Males have continued to account for over three quarters (76.5%) of deaths by suicide with males aged 60-64 having the largest increase in age-specific suicide rates from 2023-24 (an 18% increase).
Females aged between 25-29 years had the highest age-specific suicide rate of females aged under 85 years (9.8 deaths per 100,000), with the highest proportion of suicide occurring in those aged between 25-29 years (12.3%).

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

Suicide was the 5th leading cause of death for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. For men, it was the 2nd leading cause and 10th for females in 2024.
Over the five-year period 2020-2024, suicide was the leading and second leading cause of death for female and male Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children respectively.

Regional and remote

Suicide rates in remote and very remote Australia are the highest in five years, between 20.5 and 24.6 as compared with 9.9 to 10.9 in major cities.

States and territories

The Northern Territory had the highest age-standardised rate of deaths by suicide at 19.3 per 100,000, while all other states and territories recorded at the same rate or lower comparing 2023 to 2024.

Occupation and risk factors

For males who died by suicide, technicians and trade workers was the most common major occupation group listed on their death registration (27.6%), while for females, professionals was the most common (21.8%).
79.7% of all suicide deaths recorded at least one risk factor with psychosocial risk factors being the most commonly reported (present in almost 66.7% of deaths by suicide).

2023 Causes of Death

Overview

3,214 Australians died by suicide in 2023, which represents an age-standardised suicide death rate of 11.8 per 100,000 people.
The number of suicides has decreased from 3,288 in 2022. This means that, taking into account Australia’s changing population, the age-standardised rate of suicide (deaths per 100,000) has decreased from 12.4 in 2022 to 11.8 in 2023.
Over the previous ten years, the age-standardised suicide death rate per 100,000 people has decreased from 12.3 in 2014 to 11.8 in 2023, a decrease of around 4%.
Suicide was the 16th leading cause of death overall (lower than the 15th place in 2022), accounting for 1.8% of deaths.
The median age of death by suicide was 45.5 years, compared to 82.0 years for all causes of death. Because suicide frequently occurs at a younger age than other causes of death the potential years of life lost are high. As in previous years, in 2023, suicide was the cause of death resulting in the highest number of potential years of life lost: 107,537 years. A person who died by suicide lost on average 35.5 years of life.
According to research published by the World Health Organisation in 2019, the global age-standardised suicide rate was 9.0 per 100,000.
1 This compares with the 2019 suicide rate in Australia of 13.2. The global age-standardised suicide rate beyond 2019 has yet to be published, indicating the need for more timely data.

Men

Consistent with previous years, males are around three times more likely to die by suicide than females. Males accounted for 75.3% of deaths by suicide (2,419 deaths), while females accounted for 24.7% (795 deaths).
The median age at death for men who died by suicide was 45.8 years.
The age-standardised suicide rate was 18.0 in 2023 and 18.9 in 2022. Whilst the suicide rate for females appears to have decreased since 2022, it should not be reported as such. Further revisions of the 2023 dataset will provide more accurate data for time series comparisons.
Suicide was the 11th leading cause of death for males and the highest ranked external cause of death in males.
Men aged 55-59 are particularly impacted representing 9.5% of suicides of males. They had the highest rates of those aged under 80 years (30.9 per 100,000). They have had the largest increase in their age-specific suicide rate for Australians aged 15 and above (up 22% from 25.2 per 100,000).
Globally, men also had higher age-standardised suicide rates (12.6 per 100,000 in 2019) which is 2.3 times higher than women. In Australia, the suicide rate for men is 3.1 times higher than women in 2019 (20.1 vs 6.4 per 100,000).

Women

Females aged between 50-54 years had the highest age-specific suicide rate with a rate of 10.0 deaths per 100,000 females. It accounted for 10.7% of suicide of females, coincidentally the highest proportion of female suicide deaths.
The median age at death for women who died by suicide was 44.4 years.
The age-standardised suicide for women was 5.8 in 2023 and 6.1 in 2022. Whilst the suicide rate for females appears to have decreased since 2022, it should not be reported as such. Further revisions of the 2023 dataset will provide more accurate data for time series comparisons.
*The ‘sex’ variable has traditionally been interpreted as reflecting the sex of the deceased, as reported at birth. In recent years, some states and territories have amended their jurisdictional-based Births, Deaths and Marriages legislation to allow for gender identity to be reported or updated on birth and death registrations. For a death registration, the change in legislation means that a person’s gender identity may be recorded. The terms ‘sex’ and ‘gender’ are interrelated and often used interchangeably, however they are two distinct concepts, and a person’s sex may differ to their gender identity. Data for ‘sex’ in this publication may refer to:

- the person’s sex reported at birth. This is currently how the vast majority of deaths are captured.

- the person’s gender identity.
Data for sex is output in tables as ‘males’ and ‘females’ only. Sex not stated may be included in totals.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

In 2023 there were 275 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who died by suicide across Australia). The number of suicides of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people increased across all jurisdictions when comparing 2014-18 with 2019-23 (864 vs 1,196 deaths).
The median age of death by suicide of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples Australia was 33.0 years across Australia, more than a decade younger than the median age of death by suicide for the general population of 45.5 years.
Suicide was the 2nd leading cause of death for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and 8th for women in 2023.
The suicide rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who died between 2014 and 2023 increased by 20% from 2014-2018 to 2019-2023 (20.3 vs 24.3 per 100,000).

Young people

In 2022, there were 94 children (Australians aged 5-17 years) who died by suicide which accounted for 18.5% of all child deaths. This represents a rate of 2.2 per 100,000 children.
Suicide has overtaken land transport accidents as the leading cause of child death in Australia in 2022.
Males had a suicide rate of 2.4 per 100,000 children (53 deaths) and females had a suicide rate of 2.0 per 100,000 (41 deaths).
Over 87% of children who died by suicide were aged 14-17 years (82 deaths).
Whilst the suicide rate for children has increased from 2022 (1.8), it remains lower than the rates in 2019-2021 (ranges from 2.4 – 2.8 per 100,000 children).

States and territories

When looking at State and Territory data, Northern Territory had the highest age-standardised rate of deaths by suicide at 17.0 per 100,000.
All states except WA and Tasmania had decreases in the rates of between 2022 and 2023.
Age-standardised rates of death by suicide were higher in regional Australia: 15.5 deaths per 100,000 outside capital cities, compared with 10.0 deaths per 100,000 in capital cities in 2023.
Rates have decreased in regional Australia, from 16.2 deaths per 100,000 in 2022 and decreased in capital cities from 10.5 deaths per 100,000 in 2022.

Countries of birth

Those who were born in Australia had a suicide rate of 14.7 deaths per 100,000 people, which was the highest suicide rate by region of birth and 75% higher than the suicide rate for those born overseas (8.4 per 100,000).
Those with a country of birth in Northern Ireland had the highest suicide rate, at 20.9 per 100,000 people.
Those with a country of birth in Poland had the lowest suicide rate, at 10.3 per 100,000 people.

Risk factors

The proportion of suicide deaths recording at least one risk factor was 83.3% with psychosocial risk factors being the most commonly reported risk factor (present in almost 67.4% of deaths of people who died by suicide.)
The three most frequently occurring risk factors for Australians of all ages were: mood [affective] disorders (37.5%), suicide ideation (35.2%) and problems in spousal relationship circumstances (23.7%).
This coincides with 2023 data from Suicide Prevention Australia’s Community Tracker that reveals that close to two in five (37%) Australians who have experienced suicidal behaviour in the past 12 months say they experienced elevated distress due to family and relationship breakdown. This was the third-ranked cause of distress preceded by cost of living and personal debt (53%) and social isolation and loneliness (40%)
The three most frequently occurring risk factors for men of all ages were: mood [affective] disorders (35.1%), suicide ideation (33.3%) and problems in spousal relationship circumstances (27.9%). Males aged 25-44 years were the most likely age group to have substance abuse mentioned as a risk factor.
The three most frequently occurring risk factors for women of all ages were: mood [affective] disorders (44.9%), suicide ideation (34.3%) and personal history of self-harm (32.5%).