You asked

I would like to request the 2020 Suicide rates in the UK to date from January until the end of April.

I would like to see how much of an effect COVID-19 controls measures has had on the figures.

We said

Thank you for your query.

Unfortunately, we do not hold the data you have requested.

We produce provisional suicide data for England on a quarterly basis. Our next update will include deaths that have been registered from January to March of 2020. The publication will be announced via our release calendar.

The earliest date we will be able to report on provisional data on suicide deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic will be late 2020/ early 2021. This is because most suicides are investigated by coroners in an inquest. The amount of time it takes to hold an inquest causes a lag between the date of death and the date of death registration, referred to as a registration delay. Registration delays for deaths caused by suicide tend to be 5 to 6 months on average.

Our statistics are based on the date of registration, therefore our next annual Suicides in the UK release will be based on 2019 death registrations.