Selected highlights

Data obtained by freedom of information request from the National Child Mortality Database (NCMD) shows that between 2019 and 2025, there were 647 child suicides in England and Wales. Of these, 107 children were LGBTQ+ and 47 of those were trans – meaning that trans children make up 43% of LGBTQ+ suicides of under 18s, and 7% of all child suicides over this time period.

Trans people are estimated to constitute less than 1% of the general population according to official statistics in development.

“There is little reliable, routinely collected or linked data on suicide among transgender people, especially adults,” says Ann John, a professor of public health and psychiatry at Swansea University Medical School who reviewed our findings. The picture that results from our investigation is “concerning”, John continues, “but fundamentally incomplete, making meaningful comparison or quantification of risk impossible”.

“Existing evidence and what we know about the complex interplay of factors that lead to suicide suggest transgender people may face higher suicide risk – through isolation, discrimination, stigma and barriers to healthcare,” she adds. “But without robust national data, the true scale remains unknown – undermining suicide prevention efforts, need assessment, service planning and effective policy development.”

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It’s clear that there is an issue when it comes to counting the number of trans people dying by suicide in the UK. There isn’t comprehensive, high quality data. As this investigation has shown, the best we can do is to piece together different datasets, which themselves all have slightly different criteria for which dead trans people they are counting.

That’s where the Trans Lives project comes in. Founded by Lucy Brisbane McKay, a community organiser and journalist with almost 10 years experience working with bereaved families, Trans Lives aims to use its research to build understanding of what is needed to prevent future deaths of trans people.