Abstract
All rates indicate number per 100,000 in.the population. 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Suicidal Ideation and Behaviors1 18.8% seriously considered suicide (17.2% in 2017) 15.7% made a suicide plan (13.6% in 2017) 8.9% attempted suicide (7.4% in 2017) 2.5% suicide attempt required medical attention (2.4% in 2017) 2020 data will be available summer of 2022 2020 Youth Suicide Deaths (2019 deaths, cause of death rank, and rate in parentheses) Age in Years Number of Deaths2 Cause of Death Rank3 Suicide Rate2 5 to 6 0 NA ¼1 7 2 (0) 15 (¼1) 0.05 (¼1) 8 4 (2) 13 (15) 0.10 (0.05) 9 14 (10) 6 (7) 0.34 (0.25) 10 25 (17) 4 (5) 0.61 (0.42) 11 42 (37) 4 (4) 1.03 (.88) 12 93 (98) 2 (2) 2.21 (2.33) 13 172 (174) 2 (1) 4.08 (3.95) 14 249 (208) 2 (2) 5.95 (4.99) 15 323 (285) 2 (2) 7.73 (6.83) 16 384 (382) 2 (2) 9.17 (9.20) 17 371 (433) 3 (2) 8.91 (11.45) 18 498 (510) 3 (3) 11.97 (11.98) Total 2,177 (2,156) 3 (2) 3.77 (3.74) Note. Other Youth Suicide Statistics More males than females (5 to 18 years) died by suicide in 2020 2 Gender ratio 2.55 male suicides (N=1,564) for each female suicide (N=613) More females than males (5 to 18 years) engaged in nonfatal self-harm in 2020 4 Gender ratio 3.2 female self-injuries (n=103,540) for each male self-injury (n=32,249) In May 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Emergency Department (ED) visits for suspected suicide attempts began to increase among adolescents aged 12–17 years, especially girls. During February 21–March 20, 2021, suspected suicide attempt ED visits were 50.6% higher among girls aged 12–17 years than during the same period in 2019; among boys aged 12–17 years, suspected suicide attempt ED visits increased 3.7%” (p. 893).5 More nonfatal self-injuries than suicide deaths in 2020 (5 to 18 years) 2,4 Females: 1 suicide death for every 169 nonfatal self-harm-injuries Males: 1 suicide death for every 21 nonfatal self-harm injuries 47% of 14 to 18 year old suicides employed a firearm 2 55% of 14 to 18 year old male suicides employed a firearm 23% of 14 to 18 year old female suicides employed a firearm When a person uses a firearm in an attempt to die by suicide, death is the result 85% of the time, compared to 3% of fatalities that follow a drug overdose.6 Suicide by firearm rate 2 (all ages, all genders) = 7.37 Suicide by firearm rate (14–18 years, all genders) = 4.10 Suicide by firearm rate (14–18 years, males) = 7.01 Suicide by firearm rate (14–18 years, females) = 1.07 2020 Suicide Deaths Among Youth and Young Adults Ages 5 to 25 Years2 States Ranked by Crude Rate (i.e., deaths per 100,000 in.the population) 2020 Rank State (2019 rank in parentheses) Deaths Population Crude Rate 1 Alaska (1) 58 207,130 28.00 2 Montana (3) 54 281,830 19.16 3 South Dakota (2) 46 252,355 18.23 4 New Mexico (4) 102 578,000 17.65 5 Wyoming (5) 26 158,961 16.36 6 Colorado (6) 246 1,538,756 15.99 7 Oklahoma (8) 167 1,135,759 14.70 8 Idaho (9) 76 528,953 14.37 9 Kansas (11) 113 845,184 13.37 10 Utah (7) 146 1,107,827 13.18 11 Vermont (39) 20 157,061 12.73 12 Missouri (12) 199 1,642,507 12.12 12 South Carolina (20) 165 1,361,608 12.12 14 Arkansas (13) 99 831,328 11.91 15 Arizona (21) 234 2,026,265 11.55 16 Oregon (10) 119 1,056,577 11.26 17 New Hampshire (16) 36 329,210 10.94 18 Kentucky (32) 130 1,203,754 10.80 19 West Virginia (18) 47 439,804 10.69 20 Nevada (19) 85 808,695 10.51 21 North Dakota (14) 23 223,337 10.30 22 Virginia (34) 232 2,279,459 10.18 23 Indiana (38) 191 1,897,492 10.07 24 Washington (26) 192 1,982,864 9.68 25 Iowa (17) 85 887,598 9.58 26 Georgia (35) 289 3,019,525 9.57 27 Wisconsin (29) 146 1,551,075 9.41 28 Texas (31) 804 8,723,999 9.22 29 Alabama (30) 119 1,306,677 9.11 30 Tennessee (24) 165 1,812,791 9.10 31 Ohio (25) 278 3,084,825 9.01 32 Maine (15) 27 305,959 8.82 33 Michigan (33) 230 2,629,191 8.75 U.S. Suicide Deaths and Rate 7,525 88,008,824 8.55 34 North Carolina (37) 239 2,835,494 8.43 35 Nebraska (27) 46 560,893 8.20 36 Hawaii (36) 28 346,829 8.07 37 Minnesota (22) 118 1,522,161 7.75 38 Florida (41) 395 5,122,271 7.71 39 Louisiana (23) 96 1,263,212 7.60 40 Mississippi (28) 63 830,193 7.59 41 Illinois (42) 239 3,359,865 7.11 42 Pennsylvania (40) 222 3,214,214 6.91 43 Delaware (49) 16 244,928 6.53 44 Maryland (43) 89 1,572,683 5.66 45 California (45) 589 10,652,618 5.53 46 Massachusetts (48) 85 1,771,427 4.80 47 Rhode Island (50) 12 269,513 4.45 48 Connecticut (44) 40 921,922 4.34 49 New York (46) 205 4,875,386 4.20 50 New Jersey (47) 89 2,277,095 3.91 Author Affiliation Stephen E. Brock, PhD, NCSP, is a professor and the School Psychology Program coordinator at California State University, Sacramento