WORLDWIDE, old people are far more likely than any other age group to kill themselves. But in Britain they have become among the least likely (see chart). Between 1986 and 2017 the suicide rate among the over-60s dropped by about 60%, while the rates among other age groups remained relatively stable. “The older the age, the greater the risk” was once a good rule of thumb for suicide, says Steve Platt of the University of Edinburgh. In most countries it still is, but not in Britain.

This trend puzzles experts, but several changes may help to explain why British pensioners are less likely to kill themselves. One is that their quality of life has got much better. The number of old people living in poverty is close to its lowest-ever level. After housing costs, their incomes almost equal those of working households, a radical change from the mid-1990s, when the elderly were far poorer than others.

Their health is also much improved. Better diagnosis and treatment of mental illness, in particular, has helped, since around 90% of suicides involve disorders like depression. Tackling these illnesses benefits all age groups. But some measures are especially good for older patients. One is prescribing anti-depressants, which some studies suggest are most effective at reducing suicidal thoughts among the elderly. Doctors have got better at spotting dementia, which can make people suicidal. And better painkillers mean chronic conditions such as arthritis are less debilitating, and therefore less of a strain on mental health. Fit pensioners are less lonely than invalids, since they get out and socialise more.

Another possible reason is that it has become harder to commit suicide using the methods favoured by the elderly. This has happened before. Between 1950 and 1980 there was an even bigger drop in the elderly suicide rate, driven partly by the declining toxicity of domestic gas, which many old people had used to kill themselves. The introduction in the 1990s of a new generation of anti-depressants, which are harder to overdose on, may have had a similar effect, speculates David Gunnell of the University of Bristol.