The Los Angeles Post

US SUICIDE RATES RISE FOLLOWING 2-YEAR DECLINE

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Rates of suicide in the U.S. increased in 2021 following a two-year period of decline, according to new provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

 

Compared with 2020, last year saw a 4 percent increase in suicides overall, according to death records processed by the National Center for Health Statistics.

Although total monthly suicides were lower in January, February and July of 2021 compared with the previous year, all other months outpaced 2020. Totals were also
1 percent lower than peak rates measured in 2018.

 

The trend is worrying experts who fear rates are rebounding to those measured before the pandemic.

  • The suicide rate among men was greater than that of women in 2021:
    4 percent and 2 percent, respectively.
  • “By age group, the largest statistically significant percentage increase from 2020 to 2021 was for males aged 15–24, by 8%,” authors wrote, adding no significant declines were measured in any male age group.