Scotland has the highest suicide rate in Britain, official figures show.

There were 13.9 deaths per 100,000 people in Scotland last year, compared to 9.2 in England.

However, the total number of suicides fell slightly to 5821 from 5965 in 2016.

Around three quarters of those who took their own lives were men, with those aged between 45 and 49 most at risk.

While the rate of male suicides in Britain at its lowest on record, it continues to increase in Scotland.

James Jopling, executive director for Samaritans in Scotland said: "It is worrying to see that the suicide rate in Scotland is the highest in Great Britain.

"Although we saw a decline overall in suicides in 2017 in Scotland, this masked the fact that male suicides are continuing to increase here.

"And that male suicides are a greater proportion of the total number than elsewhere."

It remains unclear why suicide rates are higher in Scotland, Mr Jopling said.

"We don't currently understand enough about the lives and deaths of people by suicide in Scotland," he added.

Figures for Scotland, England and Wales were published by the Office for National Statistics on Tuesday. Data for Northern Ireland will be released later this year.

Across Britain, men aged 45 to 49 had the highest suicide rate at 24.8 per 100,000, while women aged 50 to 54 had the highest rate at 6.8 per 100,000.

Although suicide rates for women have almost halved in Scotland since 1981, the numbers have not fallen consistently since the 1990s as elsewhere in Britain.

The figures cover all deaths from intentional self-harm for people over the age of ten and deaths where the intent was undetermined for those aged over 15 years old.