Suicide mortality in the United States, 1999\u20132017

Since 2008, suicide has ranked as the 10th leading cause of death for all ages in the United States (1). In 2016, suicide became the second leading cause of death for ages 10\u201334 and the fourth leading cause for ages 35\u201354 (1). Although the Healthy People 2020 target is to reduce suicide rates to 10.2 per 100,000 by 2020 (2), suicide rates have steadily increased in recent years (3,4). This data brief uses final mortality data from the National Vital Statistics System (NVSS) to update trends in suicide mortality from 1999 through 2017 and to describe differences by sex, age group, and urbanization level of the decedent\u2019s county of residence.Key findingsData from the National Vital Statistics System, Mortality\u2022 From 1999 through 2017, the age-adjusted suicide rate increased 33% from 10.5 to 14.0 per 100,000.\u2022 Suicide rates were significantly higher in 2017 compared with 1999 among females aged 10\u201314 (1.7 and 0.5, respectively), 15\u201324 (5.8 and 3.0), 25\u201344 (7.8 and 5.5), 45\u201364 (9.7 and 6.0), and 65\u201374 (6.2 and 4.1).\u2022 Suicide rates were significantly higher in 2017 compared with 1999 among males aged 10\u201314 (3.3 and 1.9, respectively), 15\u201324 (22.7 and 16.8), 25\u201344 (27.5 and 21.6), 45\u201364 (30.1 and 20.8) and 65\u201374 (26.2 and 24.7).\u2022 In 2017, the age-adjusted suicide rate for the most rural (noncore) counties was 1.8 times the rate for the most urban (large central metro) counties (20.0 and 11.1 per 100,000, respectively).Suggested citation: Hedegaard H, Curtin SC, Warner M. Suicide mortality in the United States, 1999\u20132017. NCHS Data Brief, no 330. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2018.CS298851201