Statistics reveal that County Durham has highest suicide rate in North East

New statistics have revealed that County Durham has the highest suicide rate in the Northeast of England.

The Office for National Statistics have released a report which shows that County Durham had a total of 46 registered suicide deaths in 2002 and 59 in 2015. In contrast, other regions in the North East, including Sunderland, Newcastle and Northumberland, have seen decreases in their suicide rates during the past year.

The overall UK rate rose from 10.8 to 10.9 deaths per 100,000 population in the past year, while County Durham’s rate rose from 14.8 to 15.7. Sunderland’s suicide rate has decreased from 11 to 10 deaths per 100,000 population in the past year.