Data Spotlight: Suicide deaths among young men

Deaths from suicide are four times higher among men than women. Unfortunately, these rates are rising, particularly among younger men. Figure 1 shows rates from 2001 to 2023 for men aged 15 to 64.

Between 2010 and 2023, the suicide rate for boys and men aged:

• 15-24 years-old rose by 26%
• 25-34 years-old rose by 31%
• 35-44 years-old rose by 23%

This is in contrast to the previous decade, during which the rise in suicide rates was largely among middle-aged men. While this rise is concerning, there is a potential cause for optimism: the trend line for men aged 15-34 years-old has started to decline in recent years.

Figure 1

One official metric of health risk is years of potential life lost (YPLL), which measures the years between an individual’s age at death and a specified reference age—we use 75. So, for example, a man who died by suicide at age 24 would have a YPLL of 51 years. The YPLL here emphasizes the loss of life among the younger population further than just looking at suicide rates.

As figure 2 shows, between 2001 and 2023, the years of potential life lost to male suicide has dramatically increased. Men aged 25-34 account for 35% of that increase, with YPLL increasing from 191,000 to 308,000 years lost. Men aged 15-24 account for an additional 22%, rising from 187,000 to 260,000 years lost.
 

Figure 2

For more information on male suicide, please visit our past research on the subject:

• Male suicide trends by class and occupation: covering the heightened risk of suicide for men in certain occupations.
• The state of working class men: highlighting the differences in suicide by education, especially for men.
• Unnatural male deaths: again showing the rise in suicides for men, along with a number of other fatal injuries.
• Male suicide: patterns and recent trends: a comprehensive review of suicide dynamics by a number of demographics.