American Suicide Rates Up 33% Since 1999

June 24, 2019 (EIRNS)—New data released June 20 from the National Center for Health Statistics, a division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), show the age-adjusted suicide rate was 33% higher in 2017 than in 1999: 14.0 per 100,000 as compared to 10.5 per 100,000. When broken down by race, however, certain groups showed astounding jumps, the largest being for American Indian or Alaska Natives (AIAN)—an area of persistent poverty—which jumped 139% for females (from 4.6 to 11.0 per 100,000), and males up 71% (from 19.8 to 33.8 per 100,000).

Rates for white females (charts not broken down by age) showed the next largest jump, going from 4.7 to 7.9 per 100,000.