Suicides of social and care workers 2020 to 2025 by sex

Release date:
1 May 2026

FOI reference: FOI-2026-3513

You asked

Please provide the number of deaths registered as suicides in England and Wales for the period from January 2020 to the most recent available date in 2025.

I would like this data broken down by the following SOC 2020 occupational codes:

  • 2461: Social workers

  • 1172: Social services managers and directors

  • 1232: Residential, day and domiciliary care managers and proprietors

  • 3221: Youth and community workers

  • 3222: Child and early years officers

  • 3229: Welfare and housing associate professionals (n.e.c.)

  • 2464: Youth work professionals

  • 2469: Welfare professionals (n.e.c.)

  • 6135: Care workers and home carers

  • 6136: Senior care workers

If possible, please provide the results:

  1. Broken down by calendar year of registration (2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and provisional 2025).

  2. Separated by sex (Male/Female).

I understand that if numbers are very low (e.g., fewer than 3), they may be suppressed to protect anonymity. If this is the case, please provide the highest level of detail possible within your disclosure guidelines.

Please provide this information in an electronic format (such as an Excel or CSV file).

We said

Thank you for your request. 

The number of suicides by sex and 4-digit SOC 2020 code for deaths registered in 2023 and 2024 (provisional) can be found on our website. We have also published these figures for deaths registered between 2020 and 2022 by sex and SOC 2010 code. 

Later this year we will be releasing a new bulletin for suicides by occupation. This will cover deaths occurring between 2011 and 2024. 

If this does not meet your needs, we can create a custom output. Information on suicides by sex and occupation, along with other special extracts and tabulations of mortality data for England and Wales are available to order subject to legal frameworks, disclosure control, resources and agreements of costs.  Such enquiries can be made to Health.Data@ons.gov.uk.

As this information is reasonably accessible via another route, even if only accessible on payment, Section 21(2)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) applies.

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