Fewer suicides, but alcohol-related deaths rose in first pandemic year

Australia’s suicide rate fell to its lowest level in years in 2020 despite the coronavirus pandemic, with experts pointing to increased government support payments keeping people out of poverty and more people being able to get help before they hit crisis points.

The number of suicides fell to 3139 in 2020 from 3318 the year before, the Australian Bureau of Statistics causes of deaths report shows, as the overall mortality rate fell as public health measures to keep COVID-19 at bay also suppressed other diseases. There were just 55 deaths from the flu.

COVID-19 was ranked 38 among causes of death in 2020.Credit: Shutterstock

But while suicide numbers dropped, alcohol-related deaths rose as Australians spent more on home-delivered booze than the previous year.

For the first time on record, the top five causes of death identified by the ABS report – including heart and respiratory diseases and dementia – all fell in 2020. Coronavirus was ranked 38, blamed for 898 deaths.

Suicide deaths fell 6.2 per cent to the lowest age-standardised rate since 2016. For females, it was the lowest rate since 2013.

Associate Professor Fiona Shand, head of suicide prevention research at the Black Dog Institute, said data from states and territories already showed that deaths by suicide did not skyrocket in 2020 as experts initially feared.

Professor Shand said the boost to welfare payments for those who were left without work when lockdowns were introduced was a factor in the lower suicide rate.

“Typically when we’ve seen significant economic downturns in the past, we’ve also seen an increase in suicides,” she said.

“We can say with some confidence that the extra financial support that people were receiving when they found themselves out of work probably did prevent a significant number of suicides.”

The increase in calls to helplines and added pressure on mental health services did not necessarily translate to suicidal behaviour, Professor Shand said.

“There has been a massive increase in help-seeking,” she said. “So it is possible that people are reaching out for help, before they act on thoughts of suicide, or before they even reach that crisis point. That’s what we like to hope anyway.”

But as spending on alcohol home delivery boomed across the country, alcohol-related deaths also rose, increasing by 8.3 per cent compared to 2019, according to the ABS, or an increase of about 103 deaths.

Household spending on alcohol grew 14.7 per cent in the space of 12 months. From $5.3 billion in the December 2019 quarter, it grew to a record $6.2 billion in the June 2020 quarter, and then hit $6.1 billion in the December 2020 quarter. In the March and June quarters this year, spending has sat at $5.9 billion.

“We’re spending more and we’re drinking more, we would expect more consequences of it,” said Paul Haber, a professor of addiction medicine at the University of Sydney.

“There really is increasing alcohol-related problems. We’ve seen increasing hospital admissions from alcohol-related problems.”

Professor Haber, who is also the clinical director of Drug Health Services at Sydney Local Health District, said the ABS figure was conservative, and the true toll of alcohol-related fatalities was likely much higher.

“The ways in which alcohol contributes to death are many and varied and complicated, and precise estimation is difficult,” he said. “Very few people die from alcohol poisoning directly. They’re far more likely to die from car accidents, cancer, cirrhosis of the liver, homicide, suicide, and so on.

“But if lockdowns end and people get back to normal life, you might expect that people’s consumption of alcohol will return to what it was, more or less, and that they that these trends would reverse themselves.”

For immediate support, phone Lifeline on 13 11 14, BeyondBlue on 1300 46 36 or the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800. Find a range of mental health tests, tools and support resources at beyondblue.org.au and blackdoginstitute.org.au.

Stay across the most crucial developments related to the pandemic with the Coronavirus Update. Sign up for the weekly newsletter.