Chris Kidd

The suicide rate among young men in England and Wales is at the lowest level for 30 years, say researchers.

Using data on suicides from 1968 to 2005, the researchers found that for males aged 15 to 24, the overall suicide rate dropped from 16.6 per 100,000 people in 1990 to 8.5 per 100,000 in 2005. Amongst men aged 25 to 34, overall suicide rates declined from 22.2 to 15.7 per 100,000 over the same period.

For women, suicide rates have been fairly steady. However, the proportion of women aged 15 to 34 committing suicide by hanging has increased "massively" - from 5.7% of all suicides in 1968 to 47.3% by 2005. More research is needed to find out why this is, the study says.