NCHS health E-stats

The age-adjusted suicide rate in the United States was 24% higher in 2014 than in 1999, and increases were observed for both females and males in all age groups under 75 (1). This NCHS Health E-Stat provides supplemental data on the frequency and rate of suicide among females and males by Hispanic origin and race for 1999 and 2014.

For females, age-adjusted suicide rates increased between 1999 and 2014 for all racial and ethnic groups except non-Hispanic Asian or Pacific Islanders (API), with the largest percentage increases for non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native (AIAN) females (89%) and non-Hispanic white females (60%) (Figure 1, Table). Suicide rates for non-Hispanic white females increased for all age groups under age 75. The suicide rate for non-Hispanic white females aged 45–64 in 2014 (12.6 per 100,000) was 80% higher compared with 1999 (7.0) and was three to four times higher than for females in other racial and ethnic groups. Suicide rates for non-Hispanic black and Hispanic females also increased for those aged 45–64. Although much lower than for other ages, the suicide rate in 2014 for non-Hispanic white females aged 10–14 years (1.7 per 100,000) more than tripled from 1999 (0.5).

For males, age-adjusted suicide rates increased between 1999 and 2014 by 38% for non- Hispanic AIAN males and by 28% for non-Hispanic white males (Figure 2, Table). In 2014, the suicide rate for non-Hispanic AIAN males aged 25–44 was the highest among all racial and ethnic groups (48.0 per 100,000) and was 60% higher than in 1999 (30.0). Non-Hispanic white males had higher suicide rates in 2014 than in 1999 for all age groups under 75 years, with the greatest percentage increase for those aged 45–64 (59%) and 10–14 (57%). In contrast, non-Hispanic black males were the only racial and ethnic group of either sex to have a lower suicide rate in 2014 (9.7 per 100,000 standard population) compared with 1999 (10.5), an 8% decline.

Stephen B. Thacker CDC Library collection

United States