Table 1

Relative risks of suicide in the UK Armed Forces and in UK merchant shipping compared with the general male population aged 15–44 years since 1900

Time period	Relative risk of suicide in each occupation compared with the general population
	Royal Navy		Army		Royal Air Force		Merchant shipping
	Relative risk	(No. of risk suicides)	Relative risk	(No. of risk suicides)	Relative risk	(No. of risk suicides)	Relative risk	(No. of risk suicides)
1900–1914	0.90	(202)	0.79 *	(172)	†		4.98‡	(827)
1919–1929	1.50‡	(111)	1.88 ‡	(315)	1.61‡	(34)	4.29‡	(1143)
1930–1939	1.33‡	(80)	1.86 ‡	(255)	1.01	(21)	3.36‡	(690)
1946–1959	n/a		n/a		0.81*	(129)	2.33‡	(596)
1960–1969	n/a		n/a		0.49*	(41)	3.01‡	(429)
1970–1979	0.26*	(8)	1.22 ‡	(104)	0.35*	(24)	2.72‡	(281)
1980–1989	0.46*	(52)	0.85 *	(205)	0.61*	(83)	0.37*	(60)
1990–1999	0.50*	(57)	0.62 *	(221)	0.56*	(84)	0.24*	(13)
2000–2009	0.42*	(29)	0.62 *	(124)	0.29*	(29)	0.29*	(7)
2010–2020	0.44*	(27)	0.57 *	(93)	0.27*	(19)	0.10*	(6)
1900–2020	0.63*	(566)	1.08 ‡	(1489)	0.53*	(473)	2.28‡	(4062)

Details of years with missing annual mortality returns for each occupation are provided in the online supplemental appendix.
*Denotes a significantly (p<0.05) reduced relative risk of suicide compared with the corresponding general population (of men aged 15–44 years).
†The Royal Air Force was not founded until 1918.
‡Denotes a significantly (p<0.05) increased relative risk of suicide compared with the corresponding general population (of men aged 15–44 years).
n/a, not available.