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) WISQARS Leading Causes of Death Reports, in 2017:
- Suicide was the tenth leading cause of death overall in the United States, claiming the lives of over 47,000 people.
- Suicide was the second leading cause of death among individuals between the ages of 10 and 34, and the fourth leading cause of death among individuals between the ages of 35 and 54.
- There were more than twice as many suicides (47,173) in the United States as there were homicides (19,510).

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 2017. The data are based on death certificate information compiled by the CDC.

Table 1

Leading Cause of Death in the United States (2017)
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 860	Unintentional Injury 13,441	Unintentional Injury 25,669	Unintentional Injury 22,828	Malignant Neoplasms 39,266	Malignant Neoplasms 114,810	Heart Disease 647,457
2	Suicide 517	Suicide 6,252	Suicide 7,948	Malignant Neoplasms 10,900	Heart Disease 32,658	Heart Disease 80,102	Malignant Neoplasms 599,108
3	Malignant Neoplasms 437	Homicide 4,905	Homicide 5,488	Heart Disease 10,401	Unintentional Injury 24,461	Unintentional Injury 23,408	Unintentional Injury 169,936
4	Congenital Abnormalities 191	Malignant Neoplasms 1,374	Heart Disease 3,681	Suicide 7,335	Suicide 8,561	CLRD 18,667	CLRD 160,201
5	Homicide 178	Heart Disease 913	Malignant Neoplasms 3,616	Homicide 3,351	Liver Disease 8,312	Diabetes Mellitus 14,904	Cerebro- vascular 146,383
6	Heart Disease 104	Congenital Anomalies 355	Liver Disease 918	Liver Disease 3,000	Diabetes Mellitus 6,409	Liver Disease 13,737	Alzheimer’s Disease 121,404
7	CLRD 75	Diabetes Mellitus 248	Diabetes Mellitus 823	Diabetes Mellitus 2,118	Cerebro- vascular 5,198	Cerebro- vascular 12,708	Diabetes Mellitus 83,564
8	Cerebro- vascular 56	Influenza & Pneumonia 190	Cerebro- vascular 593	Cerebro- vascular 1,811	CLRD 3,975	Suicide 7,982	Influenza & Pneumonia 55,672
9	Influenza & Pneumonia 51	CLRD 188	HIV 513	Septicemia 854	Septicemia 2,441	Septicemia 5,838	Nephritis 50,633
10	Benign Neoplasms 31	Complicated Pregnancy 168	Complicated Pregnancy 512	HIV 831	Homicide 2,275	Nephritis 5,671	Suicide 47,173

CLRD: Chronic Lower Respiratory Disease

Suicide Rates

Data in Figure 1, Figure 2, and Figure 3 are courtesy of the CDC Fatal Injury Data Visualization.

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 2001 through 2017 for the total population, and for males and females presented separately.
- During that 16-year period, the total suicide rate increased 31% from 10.7 to 14.0 per 100,000.
- The suicide rate among males remained nearly four times higher (22.4 per 100,000 in 2017) than among females (6.1 per 100,000 in 2017).

Figure 1

Age-Adjusted Suicide Rates in the United States (2001-2017)
Year	Total Population	Female	Male
2001	10.7	4.1	18.2
2002	11.0	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	4.7	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	12.5	5.4	20.3
2013	12.6	5.5	20.2
2014	13.0	5.8	20.7
2015	13.3	6.0	21.0
2016	13.4	6.0	21.3
2017	14.0	6.1	22.4

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 crude rates of suicide within sex and age categories in 2017.
- Among females, the suicide rate was highest for those aged 45-54 (10.0 per 100,000).
- Among males, the suicide rate was highest for those aged 65 and older (31.0 per 100,000).

Figure 2

Suicide Rates by Age (per 100,000)
Age	Female	Male
10–14	1.0	3.0
15–24	5.0	22.0
25–34	7.0	27.0
35–44	8.0	27.0
45–54	10.0	30.0
55–64	8.0	29.0
65+	5.0	31.0

Figure 3 shows the rates of suicide for race/ethnicity groups in 2017. The rates of suicide were highest for American Indian/Alaska Native, Non-Hispanic males (33.6 per 100,000) and females (11.0 per 100,000), followed by White, Non-Hispanic males (28.2 per 100,000) and females (7.9 per 100,000).

Figure 3

Suicide Rates by Race (per 100,000)
Race	Female	Male
AI/AN Hispanic*	.5	3.0
Asian/PI Hispanic	1.7	4.7
Black Hispanic	1.0	5.2
Asian/PI Non-Hispanic**	3.9	9.9
Black Non-Hispanic	2.8	11.3
White Hispanic	2.8	11.9
White Non-Hispanic	7.9	28.2
AI/AN Non-Hispanic*	11.0	33.6

*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 WISQARS Fatal Injury Mapping tool, Figure 4 shows a map of the United States with each state’s age-adjusted average suicide rate from 2008 to 2014 indicated by color.

Figure 4

Suicide by Method

Data in Table 2 and Figure 5 are courtesy of the CDC WISQARS Leading Causes of Death Reports.

Number of Suicide Deaths by Method

Table 2 includes information on the total number of suicides for the most common methods.
In 2017, firearms were the most common method used in suicide deaths in the United States, accounting for almost half of all suicide deaths (23,854).

Table 2

Suicide by Method (2017)
Data Courtesy of CDC
Suicide Method	Number of Deaths
Total	47,173
Firearm	23,854
Suffocation	13,075
Poisoning	6,554
Other	3,690

Percent of Suicide Deaths by Method

Figure 5 shows the percentages of suicide deaths by method among males and females in 2017. Among males, the most common method of suicide was firearm (56.0%). Among females, the most common methods of suicide were poisoning (31.4%) and firearm (31.2%).

Figure 5

Percentage of Suicide Deaths by Method in the United States (2017)
Sex	Other	Suffocation	Poisoning	Firearm
Female	9.6	27.9	31.4	31.2
Male	7.3	27.7	9.0	56.0

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 data from a 2013 CDC report on the medical and work-loss costs of fatal injury by intent in the United States.
- Suicide accounted for $50.8 billion (24%) of the fatal injury cost.

Figure 6

Medical and Work Lost Costs of Injury by Intent in the United States (2013)
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 2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH)¹ by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

Figure 7 shows that 4.3% of adults age 18 and older in the United States had thoughts about suicide in 2017.
- Among adults across all age groups, the prevalence of serious suicidal thoughts was highest among adults aged 18-25 (10.5%).
- Among adults reporting race/ethnicity, the prevalence of serious suicidal thoughts was highest among adults reporting two or more races (8.9%).

Figure 7

Past Year Prevalence of Suicidal Thoughts Among U.S. Adults (2017)
Demographic		Percent
Overall		4.3
Sex	Female	4.6
Sex	Male	4.1
Age	18-25	10.5
	26-49	4.3
	50+	2.5
Race/Ethnicity	Hispanic or Latino*	3.3
	White	4.6
	Black	3.8
	Asian	3.3
	NH/OPI**	7.7
	AI/AN***	5.0
	2 or More	8.9

*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 0.6% of adults age 18 and older in the United States attempted suicide in 2017.
- Among adults across all age groups, the prevalence of suicide attempts in the past year was highest among adults aged 18-25 (1.9%).
- Among adults reporting race/ethnicity, the prevalence of suicide attempts in the past year was highest among adults reporting two or more races (1.3%).

Figure 8

Past Year Prevalence of Suicide Attempts Among U.S. Adults (2017)
Demographic		Percent
Overall		0.6
Sex	Female	0.7
Sex	Male	0.5
Age	18-25	1.9
	26-49	0.4
	50+	0.3
Race/Ethnicity	Hispanic or Latino*	0.5
	White	0.5
	Black	0.7
	Asian	0.6
	AI/AN**	1.0
	2 or More	1.3

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

Figure 9 shows that in 2017, 10.6 million adults aged 18 or older reported having serious thoughts about trying to kill themselves, and 1.4 million adults made a non-fatal suicide attempt during the past year. Among those adults who attempted suicide, 1.2 million 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 2017, 32.9% of the NSDUH adult sample did not complete the interview.
Reasons for non-response to interviewing include: refusal to participate (23.1%); respondent unavailable or never at home (5.0%); and various other reasons, such as physical/mental incompetence or language barriers (4.8%).
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 2017 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: April 2019

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