The suicide rate — the number of suicide deaths per 100,000 people — has been rising in the United States since 2000, when it fell to a historic low of 10.4. The rate reached 14.5 per 100,000 in 2017, the highest since the early 1940s. Suicides peaked during the Great Depression, at 21.9 per 100,000 people in 1932. Data through 2007 is age-adjusted to make comparisons fairer between groups with different age distributions, such as population clusters with higher percentages of elderly people versus those with younger populations.
Source: National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Data for the graphic are as follows:
Year | Suicide deaths per 100,000 population |
1900 | 13.1 |
1901 | 13.3 |
1902 | 13.5 |
1903 | 14.3 |
1904 | 15.4 |
1905 | 17.5 |
1906 | 16.4 |
1907 | 18.2 |
1908 | 21.1 |
1909 | 20.0 |
1910 | 19.4 |
1911 | 20.0 |
1912 | 19.7 |
1913 | 19.2 |
1914 | 20.1 |
1915 | 20.5 |
1916 | 17.8 |
1917 | 16.7 |
1918 | 15.7 |
1919 | 15.1 |
1920 | 13.4 |
1921 | 16.3 |
1922 | 15.6 |
1923 | 15.3 |
1924 | 15.7 |
1925 | 15.8 |
1926 | 16.6 |
1927 | 17.2 |
1928 | 17.7 |
1929 | 18.0 |
1930 | 19.9 |
1931 | 21.4 |
1932 | 21.9 |
1933 | 20.1 |
1934 | 18.4 |
1935 | 17.5 |
1936 | 17.3 |
1937 | 17.9 |
1938 | 18.1 |
1939 | 16.7 |
1940 | 16.8 |
1941 | 15.0 |
1942 | 14.0 |
1943 | 12.0 |
1944 | 11.5 |
1945 | 12.7 |
1946 | 13.2 |
1947 | 13.4 |
1948 | 13.0 |
1949 | 13.2 |
1950 | 13.2 |
1951 | 12.0 |
1952 | 11.6 |
1953 | 11.7 |
1954 | 11.7 |
1955 | 11.8 |
1956 | 11.6 |
1957 | 11.4 |
1958 | 12.4 |
1959 | 12.3 |
1960 | 12.5 |
1961 | 12.2 |
1962 | 12.8 |
1963 | 13.0 |
1964 | 12.7 |
1965 | 13.0 |
1966 | 12.7 |
1967 | 12.5 |
1968 | 12.4 |
1969 | 12.7 |
1970 | 13.1 |
1971 | 13.1 |
1972 | 13.3 |
1973 | 13.1 |
1974 | 13.2 |
1975 | 13.6 |
1976 | 13.2 |
1977 | 13.7 |
1978 | 12.9 |
1979 | 12.6 |
1980 | 12.2 |
1981 | 12.3 |
1982 | 12.5 |
1983 | 12.4 |
1984 | 12.6 |
1985 | 12.5 |
1986 | 13.0 |
1987 | 12.8 |
1988 | 12.5 |
1989 | 12.3 |
1990 | 12.5 |
1991 | 12.3 |
1992 | 12.1 |
1993 | 12.2 |
1994 | 12.1 |
1995 | 12.0 |
1996 | 11.7 |
1997 | 11.4 |
1998 | 11.3 |
1999 | 10.5 |
2000 | 10.4 |
2001 | 10.7 |
2002 | 10.9 |
2003 | 10.8 |
2004 | 10.9 |
2005 | 10.9 |
2006 | 10.9 |
2007 | 11.3 |
2008 | 11.9 |
2009 | 12.0 |
2010 | 12.4 |
2011 | 12.7 |
2012 | 12.9 |
2013 | 13.0 |
2014 | 13.4 |
2015 | 13.7 |
2016 | 13.9 |
2017 | 14.5 |