Overview: Suicide is a universal tragedy, with major impacts on men

Deaths from suicide represent not only a major and growing public health challenge, they have a devastating impact on tens of thousands of families every year. In 2023, more lives were lost to suicide (49,000) than to car accidents (43,795). Suicide is the second leading cause of death for those 25-34 years old, and rates in the United States are one of the highest amongst OECD countries and rising.

This brief highlights male suicide. Loss of life to suicide is a tragedy on every single occasion, and for every single group. The focus here on men, who are at much higher risk of suicide, is intended to raise awareness and deepen general understanding of the scale of the problem.

Men have comparatively high rates of suicide

Suicide in the United States is a major health concern for almost all demographic groups. But some populations have a markedly higher risk than others. Veterans, American Indian/Alaska Native and non-Hispanic white people, the elderly, and Americans living in rural areas all have higher suicide rates compared to their counterparts. However, the relative disparity between male and female suicide rates is much more pronounced than these other demographic differences, as Figure 1 shows.

Figure 1

The male suicide rate in 2023 is roughly 23 deaths per 100,000, compared to roughly 6 deaths per 100,000 for women, or a four-times difference. Men consistently represent an outsized share of total suicides. In 1972, they accounted for 71% of suicides, a figure that rose to 80% in 2023.

Data and methods notes.

Unless otherwise noted, all suicide data comes from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. Data is accessed through the CDC WONDER database and found in the Multiple Cause of Death Files. Death numbers for 2023 are provisional. Rates of suicide are per 100,000 population.  We limit our analysis to intentional self-harm deaths, due to the reliability and accessibility of this data, and the impact of a completed suicide. Our analysis does not attempt to cover depression, self-harm, suicidal ideation, or a deep dive into suicide attempts. Nor do we differentiate based on method of suicide.

Every statistic represents a profound loss for families, friends, and communities, far beyond mere numbers. By analyzing the trends, we aim to improve understanding and awareness of male deaths by suicide.

Suicide rates have risen across the board since 1999; male rates are at historic highs

In recent years, male suicide rates have reached all-time highs. They have not always been increasing this way – there have been ebbs and flows over the last 50 years, as Figure 2 shows. Of particular note, in 1999, the suicide rate for American men bottomed-out at roughly 18 deaths per 100,000. This rate represented a historic low for the last half century, following a consistent decline throughout the 1990s. It has since climbed to roughly 23 deaths per 100,000, a 27% jump. 

Figure 2

Suicide rates have been rising for both men and women over the last two decades, increasing by 35% in total since the low point in 1999. These significant changes underscore the fact that there’s nothing inevitable about today’s high rates. We further explore the growth in suicide for men, particularly young men, since this 1999 low-point.

The actual numbers here are devastating

The sheer scale of suicide deaths among men in the United States should be a cause for national alarm. In 2022 alone, 39,045 men died by suicide. This translates to a man dying by suicide approximately every 13 minutes. From 1999 to 2023, a total of 776,982 men took their own lives. If the rates had remained at their 1999 levels, an estimated 123,000 fewer men might have died by suicide over this period, a number comparable to the population of cities like Provo, UT or Cambridge, MA. Moreover, if men’s suicide rates had matched those of women, approximately 574,000 fewer men would have died by suicide since 1999, a figure exceeding the populations of major cities like Atlanta or Omaha.

Trends over time

The rise in male suicide rates since 1999 has been driven by different age groups over differing time periods: among middle aged men first, and then younger men in more recent years.

Elderly rates have stayed generally consistent

In 1999, as today, the suicide rate was highest for men over 65, at roughly 32 deaths per 100,000; it was 50% higher than the rate for 45-54-year-old men, the second-highest group, and 92% higher than the rate for those aged 15-24, the group with the lowest rate. Since then, suicide rates for elderly men have held near that level – staying within 10% of their 1999 rate, while rates for younger ages have increased across the board. Though rates for all five non-elderly groups increased, the most rapid growth occurred during different time periods.

Figure 6

Rising rates for middle aged men from 1999 to 2010 

Beginning in the early 2000s, men aged 45-64 saw a significant increase in suicide rates compared to other age groups, a trend that lasted until the mid-2010s. While growth for 45-54 year-olds leveled off, rates for 55-64 year-olds continued to climb gradually throughout the 2010s and hit their peak in 2018. In 2021, the suicide rates for both groups were in fact slightly lower than 2010, though the rate for 55-64 year-olds increased past this level in 2023, most likely reflecting the devastating impact of COVID in 2020 and 2021.

Figure 7

The patterns then shifted: since 2010, the growth in suicide has been driven by youth.

In the early 2010s, these trends changed, and suicide rates among younger men grew fastest. The growth in young male suicides has occurred almost entirely since the beginning of the 2010s. In fact, as we can see in Figure 7, suicide rates among young men (15-24) were similar in 2010 to 1999, even as rates for the middle-aged men had already climbed by 40%. The fastest rise has been for suicide rates among men aged 25 to 34, by 30% since 2010.

The growth in youth suicide comes after a striking, rapid, and temporary reprieve from the high rates of the 1980s and early 1990s. Figure 8 shows how this growth is a departure from a fifteen-year decline from 1994 to 2007 in young male suicide rates.

Figure 8

Rising suicide rates among young men is part of a greater crisis in youth mental health that emerged in the late 2000s. Youth suicide rates for boys have surpassed their 1994 peak, while suicide rates for girls recently reached levels not seen since the 1970s. The reversal is an alarming trend for both boys and girls. The rapid rise in mental health issues among young girls over the last decade has been particularly stark and merits specific attention. The fact that teen girls report feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and suicidal ideation more often than teen boys, even as teen boys fall victim to suicide at higher rates, suggests that tackling the rise in youth suicides requires different approaches for girls and boys, and a comprehensive mental health strategy should be informed by these differences.