Intimidating debt collectors push Britons to suicide: report

A total of 4,552 men took their own lives in 2011 compared with 1,493 women.

British mental health charity SANE said the downturn in Britain, which is struggling to maintain economic growth, was behind a "significant" rise in the number of suicides, reflecting a trend seen in other Western countries.

"These figures ... reveal the profound human consequences of the economic downturn, in which unemployment, debt and the relationship breakdowns that often follow can push people who may be already vulnerable to take their own lives," said Marjorie Wallace, SANE's chief executive.

Suicide rates in the United States have also risen more steeply in recent years.

"It is also worrying that the group most at risk should be middle-aged men, who are not usually perceived to be at risk," said Wallace, commenting on the ONS figures.

Among men aged between 45 and 59 years old, the suicide rate increased significantly between 2007 and 2011 to 22.2 deaths per 100,000 people, the ONS said.