Suicide Rates in the United States Continue to Increase

Abstract

In 2016, suicide was the 10th leading cause of death in the United States (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 the most recent data from the National Vital Statistics System (NVSS) to update trends in suicide mortality from 2000 through 2016 and to describe differences by sex, age group, and means of suicide (e.g., suffocation, firearms, poisoning).