Suicide rates on the rise among U.S. youth

Suicide rates among teens and young adults in the United States are on the rise among both males and females, reaching their highest point in 2017, according to newly published research analyzing suicide trends among U.S. youth between 2000 and 2017, the last year for which the researchers had data.

The study is being published as a research letter in the June 18 issue of JAMA.

Key findings:

• In 2017, a total of 6,241 suicides occurred in 2017 among individuals 15 to 24 years old. Of those, 5,016 were male and 1,225 female.
• In 2017, the overall suicide rate among 15-to-19-year-olds was 11.8 per 100,000 individuals (17.9 in males and 5.4 in females), compared with an overall rate of 8 per 100,000 individuals in the year 2000 (13 in males and in 2.7 in females)
• The overall suicide rate in 2017 among 20-to-24-year-olds was 17 per 100,000 (27.1 in males and 6.2 in females), compared with 12.5 in 2000 (21.4 in males and 3.2 in females).
• The greatest overall increase occurred among boys 15 to 19 years old from 2015 to 2017 (annual increase of 14.2 percent).