Health Care

American suicide rates skyrocket in 20 years

The latest data found a a 33% increase from 2001 to 2021.
A man jogs past a sign about crisis counseling on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Aug. 3, 2021. People in crisis and those trying to help them will have a new three-digit number, 988, to reach the national suicide prevention network starting in July 2022. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)

The number of Americans who have died by suicide has skyrocketed in the last two decades and increased to near record highs in 2021 after a brief lull in the first year of the coronavirus pandemic.

New data from the National Center for Health Statistics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show 14.1 deaths per 100,000 residents were caused by suicide in 2021, up from 10.7 deaths per capita in 2001 — a 33% increase over just 20 years.

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