Suicide Statistics (2026): 79 Sourced Figures

Help is available. Anyone in the United States who is thinking about suicide, or is worried about someone, can call or text 988. The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is free and open at all hours. Chat is available at 988lifeline.org. Veterans and service members can call 988 and press 1, or text 838255, to reach the Veterans Crisis Line. In an emergency, call 911.

This page collects figures on suicide deaths, suicidal thoughts and behaviors, and crisis line use. Most figures cover the United States. Every number links to the document that first published it. Death counts and rates come from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Survey estimates come from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the CDC Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Veteran figures come from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Crisis line figures come from the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Global figures come from the World Health Organization (WHO). The page follows safe-messaging practice. It reports no detail on means of suicide.

Key figures at a glance

Suicide deaths in the United States

NCHS counts deaths from death certificates in the National Vital Statistics System. Its September 2026 data brief gives final figures for 2024. CDC FastStats reports 48,824 suicide deaths in 2024 and a crude rate of 14.4 deaths per 100,000 population. The data brief reports an age-adjusted rate. That rate removes the effect of differences in age structure over time and between states.

• Suicide was the 10th leading cause of death in the United States in 2024. It was the second leading cause of death for people aged 10 to 44.
• The age-adjusted rate was 13.7 deaths per 100,000 standard population in 2024. It was 14.1 in 2023.
• The rate rose from 13.0 in 2014 to 14.0 in 2017, according to the same brief.
• A GAO report states that US suicide rates increased about 31 percent from 2003 through 2023. The same report describes the 2023 toll as about one death every 11 minutes.
• CDC FastStats lists 616,000 emergency department visits for self-harm injury. That figure comes from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey for 2022. Self-harm visits include injuries without suicidal intent.

By sex

The suicide rate for males was about 3 to 4 times higher than the rate for females in every year from 2014 to 2024.

By age

Rates by age group are not age-adjusted. They are deaths per 100,000 people in that age group.

By state

State rates in 2024 ranged from 5.7 in the District of Columbia to 29.7 in Alaska, per 100,000 standard population.

Suicidal thoughts and behaviors among adults

The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) is SAMHSA’s annual household survey of the civilian, noninstitutionalized population aged 12 and older. Results for 2025 were released in July 2026 (HHS Publication No. PEP26-07-010). Adults were asked about serious thoughts of suicide, suicide plans and suicide attempts in the past 12 months.

Most adults with serious thoughts of suicide did not report a plan or an attempt. Of the 13.9 million, 9.4 million had serious thoughts of suicide only.

Trends by age, 2021 to 2025

SAMHSA found no change from 2021 to 2025 in the share of all adults with serious thoughts of suicide. The pattern differs by age.

• Among all adults, the share who made a suicide plan rose from 1.4% in 2021 to 1.8% in 2025.
• The share who attempted suicide rose from 0.7% in 2021 to 0.9% in 2025.
• Among young adults aged 18 to 25, attempts fell from 2.8% in 2021 to 1.9% in 2025.
• Among adults aged 50 or older, attempts rose from 0.2% in 2021 to 0.5% in 2025.

Young people

Adolescents aged 12 to 17 (NSDUH)

All three measures fell from 2021. Serious thoughts of suicide fell from 12.9% in 2021, suicide plans from 6.2% and attempts from 3.6%.

SAMHSA states that these adolescent estimates are likely to be conservative. Unlike adults, adolescents were able to answer “I’m not sure” or “I don’t want to answer”. In 2025, those two responses to the question on serious thoughts of suicide corresponded to about 13.8% of adolescents, or 3.5 million people.

High school students (YRBS)

The CDC Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) is a national school-based survey. The 2023 survey had 20,103 respondents. CDC published the results in an MMWR Supplement on October 10, 2024.

The YRBS and NSDUH figures differ because the surveys ask different questions of different groups. The YRBS surveys students in school. NSDUH surveys households and covers ages 12 to 17.

Veterans

The VA publishes the National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report. The 2025 edition covers deaths in 2023 and was released in early 2026.

• 6,398 veterans died by suicide in 2023. That was 44 fewer deaths than in 2022.
• The suicide rate rose from 37.3 to 37.8 per 100,000 among male veterans, and from 13.7 to 13.9 per 100,000 among female veterans.
• 61% of veterans who died by suicide in 2023 had not received VA health care in the last year of their life.

The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline

The 988 Lifeline launched in July 2022. It is a network of independent crisis contact centers that answer calls, texts and chats. GAO reviewed its performance in a July 2026 report (GAO-26-108114).

GAO’s counts include contacts routed to local, Spanish-language, LGBTQ+ youth and national backup centers. The shares are as GAO rounded them and do not sum to exactly 100%.

Global figures

The WHO suicide fact sheet was last updated on November 3, 2026.

• More than 740,000 people die by suicide every year.
• Suicide was the second leading cause of death among people aged 15 to 29 worldwide in 2023.
• 73% of global suicides occurred in low- and middle-income countries in 2023.
• Only 38 countries report having a national suicide prevention strategy.
• Only some 80 WHO Member States have good-quality vital registration data that can be used directly to estimate suicide rates.

Method

• Data window. Figures date from 2021 to November 2026. The page uses the latest release of each series at the check date. Earlier years appear only as trend baselines.
• Primary sources only. Each figure links to the body that published it. These are CDC NCHS, the CDC MMWR, SAMHSA, the VA, GAO and the WHO. Statistics aggregators, advocacy roundups and news articles that re-quote figures were not used. Two figures are GAO statements that summarize federal data, and they are attributed to GAO.
• Checks. StatWharf Editorial opened each source in November 2026 and checked that the figure and its date appear there. Figures without a traceable primary source were left out. This includes a widely quoted total of more than 25 million 988 Lifeline contacts, which was found only in secondary write-ups at the check date.
• No modeling. The page reports published figures only. No value is estimated by StatWharf. Chart bar lengths are scaled to the largest value shown.
• Measures differ. Death figures come from death certificates. NSDUH and YRBS are self-reported surveys with different age ranges and question wording. The FastStats crude rate (14.4) and the age-adjusted rate (13.7) measure the same deaths in different ways. Comparisons are valid within one source, not across sources.
• Safe messaging. The page follows recommendations for reporting on suicide. It omits any breakdown by means and avoids language that presents suicide as common or inevitable.

Using these figures

Writers who cite these figures can follow the safe reporting recommendations of the WHO and US prevention bodies. A story about suicide can include the 988 Lifeline. Other StatWharf data pages are listed in the research directory. Send corrections to any figure to the editorial address below.

If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. Veterans can call 988 and press 1.

Factual corrections are free: editorial@statwharf.com.