Number of deaths

Youth suicide statistics up to 1999 (provisional data) are given below. A fact sheet and information on the New Zealand youth suicide prevention strategy are also available on the Web site of the Ministry of Health at www.moh.govt.nz/youthsuicide.html.

Youth suicide deaths for 1999 are provisional. All suspected suicide deaths, as well as violent and unnatural deaths, are subject to a coroner's investigation. The coroner's verdict is then used by NZHIS to assign a cause of death. The 1999 youth suicide figure is considered provisional as there are a small number of deaths for which the coroner's verdict has not yet been received.

There were 120 youth deaths from suicide in 1999. This was the lowest number of deaths since 1987. Males accounted for over two-thirds of youth suicide deaths in 1999.

Number of youth suicide deaths, 1980-99. (Note that the 1999 figures are provisional.) GO TO LINK TO SEE TABLE. The table below shows provisional youth suicide deaths by ethnicity for 1999. There were 33 Maori deaths in 1999, accounting for 28 percent of total youth suicides.

Youth suicide deaths, by sex and ethnicity, 1999 (provisional)

GO TO LINK TO SEE TABLE.

Suicide rates

Youth suicide rates for 1980 to 1999 are shown in the table and graph below. The total rate of youth suicide in 1999 (22.6 per 100,000 population) was the lowest rate since 1993. The rate of male suicide death dropped sharply from 1998 to 1999, while the female rate increased slightly.

The male rate of youth suicide in 1999 (30.6 per 100,000) was more than twice the female youth rate (14.2 per 100,000).

The table and graph below show the male and female youth suicide rates from 1980 to 1999. Youth suicide rates by sex, 1980-99 (age-specific rates per 100,000 population)

GO TO LINK TO SEE TABLE.

Youth suicide death rates, by sex, 1980-99 (age-specific rates per 100,000 population). Note that the 1999 figures are provisional.

The following table and graph show youth suicide rates by age, sex and ethnicity, from 1996 to 1999. (Please note that because of changes that occurred in 1995 in the classification of ethnicity, the Maori figures cannot be compared with data from ealier years.)

Maori males consistently had the highest rate of youth suicide between 1996 and 1999. Rates for all groups except non-Maori females decreased from 1998 to 1999.

Youth suicide rates, by sex and ethnicity, 1996-99 (age-specific rates per 100,000 population). Note that the 1999 figures are provisional.

GO TO LINK TO SEE TABLE.

Youth suicide rates, by sex and ethnicity, 1996-99 (age-specific rates per 100,000 population). Note that the 1999 figures are provisional.

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