Suicide deaths cost Britain £10bn a year, study finds

DEATHS from suicide are costing the UK around £10billion a year, a new study by the London School of Economics has revealed.

More than 6,000 people took their own lives in 2022, according to official data, and the financial burden amounts to £1.46million per person on average. The study, commissioned by Samaritans and due to be published this week, said in addition to suicide’s “devastating impact to families and communities”, there was a “substantial” cost associated with each premature death.

Julie Bentley, chief executive of Samaritans, told The Telegraph that “the emotional impact of a life lost to suicide can’t be measured but it can be prevented, and this is more than enough reason to renew local funding”.

“However, our report shows there is also a strong economic case for investing in suicide prevention and we urge the Government not to waste a clear opportunity to save lives,” she added. The cost of death by suicide included the years of working life lost, the impact on loved ones, and costs to the police, health services and coroner.

Samaritans has called on the Chancellor to commit to ring-fence suicide prevention funding in Wednesday’s

Budget, which has been worth £38 million a year but is set to end this month. The Government has announced a oneoff boost of £10 million instead. While suicides cost £1.46million for every death, the cost of prevention costs just £1.40 per person, the charity said.

The research stresses the complexity of calculating such sums, but said economic productivity losses owing to suicide accounted for more than £3 billion in 2022 – the single biggest cost. Other productivity losses were £1.8billion, self-harm healthcare costs were £352 million, family costs were £16 million, emergency services were £6.5million, and legal and coroner costs amounted to £29.7million.

David Mcdaid, the study’s co-author, said: “This report demonstrates that the profound human cost is not the only reason for renewing local suicide prevention funding. Suicide continues to cost the economy billions of pounds every year. Investment in effective selfharm and suicide prevention strategies can not only help save lives and avoid immeasurable levels of distress to families but also reduce pressure on national and local government budgets.”

Suicide is the biggest killer of men under 50 and women under 35. The suicide rate is now as high as it was two decades ago, with 6588 people taking their own lives across the UK in 2022.