In 2022, the male suicide rate by use of firearms was 13.5 per 100,000 population, making it by far the most common method of suicide among U.S. males. The statistic illustrates the male suicide rate in the U.S. from 2000 to 2022, by means of suicide.

The indicator measures the number of deaths that result from suicide per 100 000 inhabitants. The World Health Organization defines suicide as an act deliberately initiated and performed by a person in the full knowledge or expectation of its fatal outcome. Data on causes of death (COD) refer to the underlying cause which - according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) - is "the disease or injury which initiated the train of morbid events leading directly to death, or the circumstances of the accident or violence which produced the fatal injury". COD data are derived from death certificates. The medical certification of death is an obligation in all Member States. The data are presented as standardised death rates, meaning they are adjusted to a standard age distribution in order to measure death rates independently of different age structures of populations. This approach improves comparability over time and between countries. The standardised death rates used here are calculated on the basis of a standard European population. The number of suicides in certain countries may be under-reported because of the stigma associated with the act for religious, cultural or other reasons. The comparability of suicide data between countries is also affected by a number of reporting criteria, including how a person’s intention of killing him- or herself is ascertained or who is responsible for completing the death certificate. The product has been discontinued since: 29 Nov 2018.

Among men in the United States, those aged 75 years and older have the highest death rate from suicide among all age groups. In 2022, the suicide death rate among men aged 75 years and older was 43.9 per 100,000 population. In comparison, the death rate from suicide among men aged 25 to 44 years was 29.6 per 100,000. Suicide is a significant problem in the United States, with rates increasing over the past decade. Suicide among men In the United States, the suicide rate among men is almost four times higher than that of women. In 2022, the rate of suicide among U.S. men was 23 per 100,000 population, the highest rate recorded over the past 70 years. Firearms account for the vast majority of suicide deaths among men, accounting for around 60 percent of male suicides in 2021. The reasons why U.S. men have higher rates of suicide than women are complex and not fully understood, but may have to do with the more violent means by which men carry out suicide and the stigma around seeking help for mental health issues. Suicide among women Although the suicide rate among women in the U.S. is significantly lower than that of men, the rate of suicide among women has increased over the past couple of decades. Among women, those aged 45 to 64 years have the highest death rates due to suicide, followed by women 25 to 44 years old. Interestingly, the share of women reporting serious thoughts of suicide in the past year is higher than that of men, with around 5.5 percent of U.S. women reporting such thoughts in 2023. Similarly to men, firearms account for most suicide deaths among women, however suffocation and poisoning account for a significant share of suicides among women. In 2021, around 35 percent of suicides among women were carried out by firearms, while suffocation and poisoning each accounted for around 28 percent of suicide deaths.

Olympic athletes: the epitome of health and fitness, role models for their communities, and competing on the world stage. Is there a cost incurred by highlighting the achievements of these elite athletes? Suicide, as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is death by injuring oneself whereby death was the intent (Suicide Prevention: Facts, 2022). A person harming themselves with death as the intention but not the outcome is classified as a suicide attempt (Suicide Prevention: Facts, 2022). In the general population, suicide is one of the leading causes of death, especially amongst younger people where it is the fourth leading cause of death (Suicide Prevention: Risk, 2022). In 2019, the global age-standardized suicide rate was 9 deaths per 100,000 people (World Health Organization (WHO), 2021). The risk factors for suicide are multifaceted and complex, ranging from a history of mental health issues, serious illnesses, chronic pain, financial stress, substance use, adverse childhood experiences, and difficulties in relationships (Suicide Prevention: Risk, 2022). Differences in sociodemographic variables have been linked with suicide rates (Suicide Prevention: Risk, 2022). For example, the suicide rate for males (~12.6 per 100,000) is typically higher than females (5.4 per 100,000) (Suicide Prevention: Risk, 2022). Economic factors may also play a role given the largest portion of deaths by suicide occur in lower-income and middle-income countries (Suicide Prevention: Risk, 2022), yet high-income countries report higher age-standardized rates of suicide (10.9 per 100,000) (Suicide Prevention: Risk, 2022). More than half (58%) of global suicides occur in persons less than 50 years of age (Suicide Prevention: Risk, 2022) implicating stage of life as a plausible risk factor linked with death by suicide. Overall, suicide rates have been declining since 2000 with a 36% reduction noted in 2019 compared with 20 years earlier (Suicide Prevention: Risk, 2022).

Sports and athletes can be ‘newsworthy’, so there is heightened media attention when high-profile athletes die from suicide. Research examining suicide and athletes has focused primarily on collegiate (or university-level) athletes. In the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) over a nine-year period, the rate of death by suicide in athletes was 1.35 per 100,000 in males, and 0.37 per 100,000 in females, both of which are lower than suicide rates for age-matched students (Rao et al., 2015). NCAA football had the highest relative rates of suicide at 2.25 per 100,000 yet this rate is still lower compared against other students matched for age and sex (Rao et al., 2015). In football, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (or CTE) has been gaining traction as one risk factor leading to death by suicide (Rao, 2018). To date, studies of suicide and athletes competing at other levels of sport (e.g., Olympics, etc.) appear sparse. One study of US Olympians compared mental disorders, substance abuse, and self-harm reported by athletes with the public noting athletes had a lower risk of death by suicide from these factors (Rao, 2018). Suicidal ideation was reported by 1 in 6 Swedish athletes competing at the international level (Timpka et al., 2019). Finally, retirement may be a factor to consider in suicide prevention initiatives given that male athletes competing in power sports (e.g., wrestling, Olympic lifting, etc.) retiring between 30 and 50 years of age were 2 to 4 times more likely to die by suicide than non-athletes of the same ages (Lindqvist et al., 2014).

To date, limited research has been reported on Olympic athletes and suicide. Further research is warranted to determine the frequency of suicide rates in Olympians plus identifiable risk factors for death by suicide reported by this cohort of elite athletes.

Age-adjusted death rate due to suicide, New Jersey.

Rate: Number of suicides per 100,000 persons (age-adjusted).

Definition: Deaths with suicide as the underlying cause. Suicide is defined as death resulting from the intentional use of force against oneself. ICD-10 codes: X60-X84, Y87.0

Data Sources:

1) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. Compressed Mortality File. CDC WONDER On-line Database accessed at http://wonder.cdc.gov/cmf-icd10.html

2) Death Certificate Database, Office of Vital Statistics and Registry, New Jersey Department of Health

3) Population Estimates, State Data Center, New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development

In England and Wales, the definition of suicide is a death with an underlying cause of intentional self-harm or an injury or poisoning with undetermined intent. In 2022, the age group with the highest rate of suicide was for those aged 50 to 54 years at 15.3 deaths per 100,000. The age groups 45 to 49 years with 14.5 deaths per 100,000 population had the second highest highest rate of suicides in the UK. Gender difference in suicides The suicide rate among men in England and Wales in 2022 was around three times higher than for women, the figures being 16.4 per 100,000 population for men compared to 5.4 for women. Although among both genders the suicide rate increased in 2021 compared to 2020. Mental health in the UK Over 53 thousand people in England were detained under the Mental Health Act in the period 2020/21. Alongside this, there has also been an increase in the number of workers in Great Britain suffering from stress, depression or anxiety. In 2022/23, around 875 thousand workers reported to be suffering from these work-related issues.

New Mexico was the state with the highest rate of suicidal death among adolescents in the U.S. in 2023, with around **** deaths per 100,000 adolescents. The overall suicide rate in the U.S. has increased over recent years. Suicide is more common among men than women, with rates among men almost **** times higher than among women. Risk factors Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, such as depression, bipolar disorder, and personality disorders, as well as substance abuse. In fact, suicidal thoughts, plans to commit suicide, and suicide attempts are all more common among those with drug or alcohol dependence or abuse. In terms of suicides due to a known mental disorder, depression accounts for around ** percent of all such suicides. Methods Most suicides in the United States are carried out by firearms, however, the most common method of suicide differs from country to country. In 2022, over ****** suicides in the United States were conducted by firearms, or just over half of all suicides that year. Firearms are the most common means of suicide among both men and women in the United States, but suicide by poisoning is much more common among women than men.

Mortality from intentional self-harm and injury undetermined whether accidentally or purposely inflicted (ICD-10 X60-X84, Y10-Y34 exc Y33.9 equivalent to ICD-9 E950-E959 and E980-E989 exc E988.8). This indicator has been superseded by P00552 to ensure parity with the ONS definition. To reduce the number of suicides. There will be no further updates for this indicator. Legacy unique identifier: P00550

This dataset includes the raw data from Google Trends, averaged data, the construct of (S)ARIMA models, and cross-correlation coefficients. Three sets of data are due to sensitivity analyses performed in 3 different time spans. The monthly rates of suicide by 3 differents means in the USA are also included.

The study elucidated 3 Google search terms whose search volume trends precede trends in means-specific suicide rate in the United States.

Suicide represents a major challenge to public mental health. In order to provide empirical evidence for prevention strategies, we hypothesized current levels of low socioeconomic status (SES) and high social isolation (SI) to be linked to increased suicide rates in N = 390 administrative districts since SES and SI are associated with mental illness. Effects of SES on suicide rates were further expected to be especially pronounced in districts with individuals showing high SI levels as SI reduces the reception of social support and moderates the impact of low SES on poor mental health. We linked German Microcensus data to register data on all 149,033 German suicides between 1997 and 2010 and estimated Prentice and Sheppard’s model for aggregate data to test the hypotheses, accounting for spatial effect correlations. The findings reveal increases in district suicide rates by 1.20% (p < 0.035) for 1% increases of district unemployment, suicide rate decreases of −0.39% (p < 0.028) for 1% increases in incomes, increases of 1.65% (p < 0.033) in suicides for 1% increases in one-person-households and increases in suicide rates of 0.54% (p < 0.036) for 1% decreases in single persons’ incomes as well as suicide rate increases of 3.52% (p < 0.000) for 1% increases in CASMIN scores of individuals who moved throughout the year preceding suicide. The results represent appropriate starting points for the development of suicide prevention strategies. For the definition of more precise measures, future work should focus on the causal mechanisms resulting in suicidality incorporating individual level data.

This indicator is defined as the crude death rate from suicide and intentional self-harm per 100 000 people, by age group. Figures should be interpreted with care as suicide registration methods vary between countries and over time. Moreover, the figures do not include deaths from events of undetermined intent (part of which should be considered as suicides) and attempted suicides which did not result in death.

Mean annual number of suicides in the baseline and intervention period.

This indicator is defined as the crude death rate from suicide and intentional self-harm per 100 000 people, by age group. Figures should be interpreted with care as suicide registration methods vary between countries and over time. Moreover, the figures do not include deaths from events of undetermined intent (part of which should be considered as suicides) and attempted suicides which did not result in death.

Table of directly (DSR) age-standardised rates of suicides per 100,000 population, and Indirectly (SMR) (Includes undetermined Injuries), all ages and age 15 plus, three year (pooled) average and annual, by sex.

Deaths from intentional self-harm and injury undetermined whether accidentally or purposely inflicted (ICD-10 X60-X84, Y10-Y34 exc Y33.9, ICD-9 E950-E959 and E980-E989 exc E988.8), registered in the respective calendar year(s).

DSR stands for Directly age-Standardised Rates.

Mortality rates are age standardised using the European Standard Population as defined by the World Health Organisation.

3 year average rates are calculated as the average of single year rates for 3 successive years.

Standardised Mortality Ratio (SMR), England = 100.

The annual rates at borough level are likely to be subject to relatively high levels of variability of numbers of suicides from year to year because of the relatively small numebrs of suicides that occur within boroughs. When comparing boroughs against each other, the three-year combined rate would provide a higher level of confidence.

NHS mental health information can be found here.

Various other suicide indicators are available from IC NHS website, including years of life lost, crude death rates, and indirectly standardised ratios (SMR). Follow: Compendium of population health indicators > Illness and Condition > Mental health and behavioural disorders

Legacy unique identifier: P00543

In 2021, over half of all suicides among males in the U.S. were conducted by the use of firearms. The death rate for suicide in the U.S. for males is consistently higher than that of females. This statistic shows the distribution of deaths from suicide in the United States during 2021, sorted by method of suicide.

Time series data for the statistic Suicide mortality rate, male (per 100,000 male population) and country Djibouti. Indicator Definition:Suicide mortality rate is the number of suicide deaths in a year per 100,000 population. Crude suicide rate (not age-adjusted).The indicator "Suicide mortality rate, male (per 100,000 male population)" stands at 9.56 as of 12/31/2021, the highest value at least since 12/31/2001, the period currently displayed. Regarding the One-Year-Change of the series, the current value constitutes an increase of 1.16 percent compared to the value the year prior.The 1 year change in percent is 1.16.The 3 year change in percent is 0.0.The 5 year change in percent is 6.58.The 10 year change in percent is 39.97.The Serie's long term average value is 7.52. It's latest available value, on 12/31/2021, is 27.07 percent higher, compared to it's long term average value.The Serie's change in percent from it's minimum value, on 12/31/2000, to it's latest available value, on 12/31/2021, is +61.49%.The Serie's change in percent from it's maximum value, on 12/31/2018, to it's latest available value, on 12/31/2021, is 0.0%.

Armenia AM: Suicide Mortality Rate: Male data was reported at 10.800 NA in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 11.500 NA for 2015. Armenia AM: Suicide Mortality Rate: Male data is updated yearly, averaging 10.100 NA from Dec 2000 (Median) to 2016, with 5 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 11.500 NA in 2015 and a record low of 5.500 NA in 2000. Armenia AM: Suicide Mortality Rate: Male data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Armenia – Table AM.World Bank.WDI: Health Statistics. Suicide mortality rate is the number of suicide deaths in a year per 100,000 population. Crude suicide rate (not age-adjusted).; ; World Health Organization, Global Health Observatory Data Repository (http://apps.who.int/ghodata/).; Weighted average;

Time series data for the statistic Suicide mortality rate (per 100,000 population) and country Bulgaria. Indicator Definition:Suicide mortality rate is the number of suicide deaths in a year per 100,000 population. Crude suicide rate (not age-adjusted).The indicator "Suicide mortality rate (per 100,000 population)" stands at 9.51 as of 12/31/2021. Regarding the One-Year-Change of the series, the current value constitutes a decrease of -5.18 percent compared to the value the year prior.The 1 year change in percent is -5.18.The 3 year change in percent is -2.26.The 5 year change in percent is -2.06.The 10 year change in percent is -14.09.The Serie's long term average value is 12.36. It's latest available value, on 12/31/2021, is 23.03 percent lower, compared to it's long term average value.The Serie's change in percent from it's minimum value, on 12/31/2019, to it's latest available value, on 12/31/2021, is +5.43%.The Serie's change in percent from it's maximum value, on 12/31/2000, to it's latest available value, on 12/31/2021, is -47.80%.