Suicide

If you are in crisis, call the toll-free National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The service is available to anyone. All calls are confidential. http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org

Definitions

Suicide is a major public health concern. Suicide is among the leading causes of death in the United States. Based on recent nationwide surveys, suicide in some populations is on the rise.

Suicide is defined as death caused by self-directed injurious behavior with intent to die as a result of the behavior.
A suicide attempt is a non-fatal, self-directed, potentially injurious behavior with intent to die as a result of the behavior. A suicide attempt might not result in injury.
Suicidal ideation refers to thinking about, considering, or planning suicide.

Additional information about suicide can be found on the NIMH health topics page on Suicide Prevention.

Suicide is a Leading Cause of Death in the United States

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2015:
- Suicide was the tenth leading cause of death overall in the United States, claiming the lives of more than 44,000 people.
- Suicide was the third leading cause of death among individuals between the ages of 10 and 14, and the second leading cause of death among individuals between the ages of 15 and 34.
- There were more than twice as many suicides (44,193) in the United States as there were homicides (17,793).

Table 1 shows the ten leading causes of death in the United States, and the number of deaths attributed to each cause. Data are shown for all ages and select age groups where suicide was one of the leading ten causes of death in 2015. The data are based on death certificate information compiled by the CDC.

Table 1

Leading Cause of Death in the United States (2015)
Data Courtesy of CDC
	Select Age Groups
Rank	10-14	15-24	25-34	35-44	45-54	55-64	All Ages
1	Unintentional Injury 763	Unintentional Injury 12,514	Unintentional Injury 19,795	Unintentional Injury 17,818	Malignant Neoplasms 43,054	Malignant Neoplasms 116,122	Heart Disease 633,842
2	Malignant Neoplasms 428	Suicide 5,491	Suicide 6,947	Malignant Neoplasms 10,909	Heart Disease 34,248	Heart Disease 76,872	Malignant Neoplasms 595,930
3	Suicide 409	Homicide 4,733	Homicide 4,863	Heart Disease 10,387	Unintentional Injury 21,499	Unintentional Injury 19,488	CLRD 155,041
4	Homicide 158	Malignant Neoplasms 1,469	Malignant Neoplasms 3,704	Suicide 6,936	Liver Disease 8,874	CLRD 17,457	Unintentional Injury 146,571
5	Congenital Abnormalities 156	Heart Disease 997	Heart Disease 3,522	Homicide 2,895	Suicide 8,751	Diabetes Mellitus 14,166	Cerebro- vascular 140,323
6	Heart Disease 125	Congenital Anomalies 386	Liver Disease 844	Liver Disease 2,861	Diabetes Mellitus 6,212	Liver Disease 13,278	Alzheimer’s Disease 110,561
7	CLRD 93	CLRD 202	Diabetes Mellitus 798	Diabetes Mellitus 1,986	Cerebro- vascular 5,307	Cerebro- vascular 12,116	Diabetes Mellitus 79,535
8	Cerebro- vascular 42	Diabetes Mellitus 196	Cerebro- vascular 567	Cerebro- vascular 1,788	CLRD 4,345	Suicide 7,739	Influenza & Pneumonia 57,062
9	Influenza & Pneumonia 39	Influenza & Pneumonia 184	HIV 527	HIV 1,055	Septicemia 2,542	Septicemia 5,774	Nephritis 49,959
10	Two Tied 33	Cerebro- vascular 166	Congenital Abnormalities 443	Septicemia 829	Nephritis 2,124	Nephritis 5,452	Suicide 44,193

CLRD = Chronic Lower Respiratory Disease

Suicide Rates

Trends over Time

Suicide rate is based on the number of people who have died by suicide per 100,000 population. Because changes in population size are taken into account, rates allow for comparisons from one year to the next.
Figure 1 shows the age-adjusted suicide rates in the United States for each year from 1999 through 2014 for the total population, and for males and females presented separately. Data courtesy of the National Center for Health Statistics, CDC .
- Over the past 15 years, the total suicide rate has increased 24% from 10.5 to 13.0 per 100,000.
- The suicide rate among males has remained approximately four times higher (20.7 per 100,000 in 2014) than among females (5.8 per 100,000 in 2014).

Figure 1

Age-Adjusted Suicide Rates in the United States (1999-2014)
Year	Total Population	Female	Male
1999	10.5	4.0	17.8
2000	10.4	4.0	17.7
2001	10.7	4.1	18.2
2002	10.9	4.2	18.5
2003	10.8	4.2	18.1
2004	11.0	4.5	18.1
2005	10.9	4.4	18.1
2006	11.0	4.5	18.1
2007	11.3	4.6	18.5
2008	11.6	4.8	19.0
2009	11.8	4.9	19.2
2010	12.1	5.0	19.8
2011	12.3	5.2	20.0
2012	12.6	5.4	20.4
2013	12.6	5.5	20.3
2014	13.0	5.8	20.7

Demographics

Because suicide rates take population size into account, they can be a useful tool for understanding the relative proportion of people affected within different demographic groups.
Figure 2 shows the rates of suicide within sex and age categories in 2014.
- Among females, the suicide rate was highest for those aged 45-64 (9.8 per 100,000).
- Among males, the suicide rate was highest for those aged 75 and over (38.8 per 100,000).

Figure 2

Suicide Rates by Age (per 100,000)
Age	Female	Male
10–14	1.5	2.6
15–24	4.6	18.2
25–44	7.2	24.3
45–64	9.8	29.7
65–74	5.9	26.6
75 and over	4.0	38.8

Figure 3 shows the rates of suicide within race/ethnicity groups in 2014. The rates of suicide were highest for males (27.4 per 100,000) and females (8.7 per 100,000) in the American Indian/Alaska Native group, followed by males (25.8 per 100,000) and females (7.5 per 100,000) in the White/non-Hispanic group.

Figure 3

Suicide Rates by Race (per 100,000)
Race	Female	Male
White	7.5	25.8
Black	2.1	9.7
Asian/PI***	3.5	8.9
AI/AN**	8.7	27.4
Hispanic or Latino*	2.5	10.3

*All other groups are non-Hispanic or Latino / **AI/AN = American Indian / Alaskan Native / ***PI = Pacific Islander

Suicide Rates by State

Suicide rates are not the same from state to state. Based on data from the CDC, Figure 4 shows a map of the United States with each state’s average suicide rate from 2004 to 2010 indicated by color. To learn more about national and state suicide rates visit the CDC WISQARS Fatal Injury Mapping page.

Figure 4

Suicide by Method

Number of Suicide Deaths by Method

Table 2 includes information on the total number of suicides for the most common methods.
In 2015, firearms were the most common method used in suicide deaths in the United States, accounting for almost half of all suicide deaths (22,118).

Table 2

Suicide by Method (2015)
Data Courtesy of CDC
Suicide Method	Number of Deaths
Total	44,193
Firearm	22,018
Suffocation	11,855
Poisoning	6,816
Other	3,504

Percent of Suicide Deaths by Method

Figure 5 shows the percentages of suicide deaths by method among males and females. In 2015, firearm was the most common method of suicide among both males (55.6%) and females (33.4%).

Figure 5

Percentage of Suicide Deaths by Method in the United States (2015)
Sex	Other	Suffocation	Poisoning	Firearm
Female	9.4	26.7	30.5	33.4
Male	7.5	26.9	10	55.6

Cost of Suicide Deaths

In addition to the emotional loss associated with suicide, there is also an economic loss as the burden of suicide falls most heavily on adults of working age.
- Figure 6 shows the medical and work-loss costs of fatal injury by intent in the United States in 2013, reported by the CDC .
- Suicide accounted for $50.8 billion (24%) of the fatal injury cost.

Figure 6

Medication Use Among Children Currently Diagnosed with ADHD (2011)
Method	Percent
Suicide	24
Homicide	12
Unintentional Injury	64
Total	100

Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors Among U.S. Adults

Data in Figure 7, Figure 8, and Figure 9 are based on data from the 2016 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH)¹ by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration(SAMHSA).

Figure 7 shows that 4.0% of adults age 18 and older in the United States had thoughts about suicide in 2016.
- The percentage of adults having serious thoughts of suicide was highest among adults aged 18-25 (8.8%).
- The prevalence of suicidal thoughts was highest among adults reporting two or more races (7.5%).

Figure 7

Past Year Prevalence of Suicidal Thoughts Among U.S. Adults (2016)
Demographic		Percent
Overall		4.0
Sex	Female	4.1
Sex	Male	4.0
Age	18-25	8.8
	26-49	4.2
	50+	2.4
Race/Ethnicity	Hispanic or Latino*	3.5
	White	4.3
	Black	3.5
	Asian	2.3
	NH/OPI**	2.5
	AI/AN***	3.9
	2 or More	7.5

*All other groups are non-Hispanic or Latino / **NH/OPI = Native Hawaiian / Other Pacific Islander / ***AI/AN = American Indian / Alaskan Native

Figure 8 shows that 0.5% of adults age 18 and older in the United States attempted suicide in 2016.
- The percentage of adults that attempted suicide was highest among adults aged 18-25 (1.8%).
- The prevalence of suicide attempts was highest among adults reporting two or more races (0.8%).

Figure 8

Past Year Prevalence of Suicidal Thoughts Among U.S. Adults (2016)
Demographic		Percent
Overall		0.5
Sex	Female	0.6
Sex	Male	0.5
Age	18-25	1.8
	26-49	0.5
	50+	0.2
Race/Ethnicity	Hispanic or Latino*	0.6
	White	0.5
	Black	0.6
	Asian	0.7
	NH/OPI**	0.7

	AI/AN***	0.3
	2 or More	0.8

*All other groups are non-Hispanic or Latino. / **NH/OPI = Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander / ***AI/AN = American Indian / Alaskan Native

Figure 9 shows that in 2016, 9.8 million adults aged 18 or older reported having serious thoughts about trying to kill themselves, and 1.3 million adults attempted suicide during the past year. Among those adults who attempted suicide, 1.0 million also reported making suicide plans.

Figure 9

Data Sources

Statistical Methods and Measurement Caveats

National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH)

Population:

The survey participants are from a civilian, non-institutionalized population aged 18 years old or older residing within the United States. NSDUH does not ask adolescents aged 12 to 17 about suicidal thoughts and behavior.
The survey covers residents of households (persons living in houses/townhouses, apartments, condominiums; civilians living in housing on military bases, etc.) and persons in non-institutional group quarters (e.g., shelters, rooming/boarding houses, college dormitories, migratory workers' camps, and halfway houses).
The survey does not cover persons who, for the entire year, had no fixed address (e.g., homeless and/or transient persons not in shelters); were on active military duty; or who resided in institutional group quarters (e.g., correctional facilities, nursing homes, mental institutions, long-term hospitals).

Survey Non-response:

In 2016, 31.6% of the NSDUH adult sample did not complete the interview.
Reasons for non-response to interviewing include: refusal to participate (22.2%); respondent unavailable or never at home (4.5%); and various other reasons, such as physical/mental incompetence or language barriers (4.6%).
People with suicidal behavior may disproportionately fall into these non-response categories. While NSDUH weighting includes non-response adjustments to reduce bias, these adjustments may not fully account for differential non-response by suicide behavior status.
Please see the 2016 National Survey on Drug Use and Health Methodological Summary and Definitions report for further information on how these data were collected and calculated.

If You are in Crisis

If you are in crisis, call the toll-free National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (NSPL) at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The service is available to anyone. All calls are confidential.

Additional Resources

Last Updated: November 2017

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