Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many farmers committed suicide in (1) 2022, (2) 2023, and (3) 2024 to date.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

Please see the letter attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority.

The Earl of Effingham

House of Lords

London

SW1A 0PW

29 November 2024

Dear Lord Effingham,

As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking how many farmers committed suicide in (1) 2022, (2) 2023, and (3) 2024 to date (HL2788).

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes annual suicide death registration statistics for England and Wales[1]; the latest available figures were published in August 2024 and covered calendar years up to 2023. Also published regularly are provisional statistics on suicide death registrations by quarter in England[2], the most recent of which were published in August 2024 and provided provisional death registrations up to Quarter 2 (April to June) 2024. The ONS holds death registrations for England and Wales only; separate figures for Scotland and Northern Ireland and are available from the National Records of Scotland (NRS)[3] and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA)[4], respectively.

The ONS’ mortality statistics for England and Wales are compiled from information supplied when deaths are certified and registered as part of civil registration. Deaths caused by suicide are investigated by coroners, and due to the length of time it takes to hold an inquest, there is delay of around six to seven months between the date of death and the date of death registration. As such, deaths are presented by date of registration rather than date of occurrence. With the deaths statistics linked above and provided in Table 1, many of these will have occurred months or, in some cases, years previously.

Occupation is reported at the time of death registration by the informant. Data on occupation is coded using the Standard Occupation Classification (SOC). For deaths registered from 2023 onwards SOC 2020[5] is used for coding, for deaths registered prior to 2023 it was SOC 2010[6]. The recorded occupation likely reflects the deceased’s main lifetime occupation or their occupation at the time of death.

The number of suicides by sex, country and occupation, deaths registered 2011 to 2021 can be found on the ONS website[7]. The numbers of suicides among farmers between 2022 and 2023 can be found in Table 1. Data for 2024 deaths registrations is not yet available.

Table 1: Number of suicides in farmers aged 20 to 64 years, in England and Wales combined, deaths registered between 2022 and 2023[8],[9],[10].

Farmers are identified by combining the following occupation groups: managers and proprietors in agriculture and horticulture (SOC code: 1211), farmers (SOC code: 5111), agricultural and fishing trades not elsewhere classified (SOC code: 5119), agricultural machinery drivers (SOC 2010 code: 8223), farm workers (SOC code: 9111) and fishing and other elementary agriculture occupations not elsewhere classified (SOC code: 9119).

Please note the numbers detailed here cannot be used to ascertain the risk of suicide among occupations, as relative suicide rates accounting for population size of occupation groups are not provided. Differences in numbers of deaths may merely reflect the underlying population structure as opposed to differences in risk.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Sir Ian Diamond

[1]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/suicidesintheunitedkingdom/2023

[2]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/quarterlysuicidedeathregistrationsinengland/2001to2023registrationsandquarter1jantomartoquarter2aprtojune2024provisionaldata

[3]https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/publications/probable-suicides-2023/

[4]https://www.nisra.gov.uk/statistics/cause-death/suicide-deaths

[5]https://www.ons.gov.uk/methodology/classificationsandstandards/standardoccupationalclassificationsoc/soc2020

[6]https://www.ons.gov.uk/methodology/classificationsandstandards/standardoccupationalclassificationsoc/soc2010

[7]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/adhocs/15043suicidebyoccupationenglandandwales2011to2021registrations

[8]Figures are based on the National Statistics definition of suicide for those aged 20 to 64 years; this includes deaths from intentional self-harm and deaths caused by injury or poisoning where the intent was undetermined.

[9]The area is based on the persons usual residence as provided by the informant upon registration. Figures for England and Wales combined (area code K04000001) include death of non-residents.

[10]Figures are for deaths registered, rather than deaths occurring in each calendar year. Due to the length of time it takes to hold an inquest, the deaths presented here may have occurred months, or even years, before they were registered.