USA Suicide Summary: 1999 Official Final Data

| 1999 State Data | Additional 1999 Detailed Data Tables |

U.S.A. SUICIDE: 1999 OFFICIAL FINAL DATA

Number Per Day Rate % of Deaths
Group (Number of Sui.)
Rate

Nation
29,199 80.0 10.7 1.2
White Male (21,107)
19.1

Males
23,458 64.3 17.6 2.0
White Female (5,193)
4.5

Females
5,741 15.7 4.1 0.5
Nonwhite Male (2,351)
10.2

Whites
26,300 72.1 11.7 1.3
Nonwhite Female (548)
2.2

Nonwhites
2,899 7.9 6.0 0.9
Black Male (1,651)
10.0

Blacks
1,950 5.3 5.6 0.7
Black Female (299)
1.6

Elderly (65+ yrs.)
5,489 15.0 15.9 0.3
Native American (291)
12.1

Young (15-24 yrs.)
3,901 10.7 10.3 12.7
Asian/Pacific Islander (658)
6.1

Age Group
Number of Suicides

Suicide Rate

10-14 yrs
242

1.2

15-19 yrs
1,615

8.2

20-24 yrs
2,286

12.7

Extrapolations about:

Deaths by Suicide (Completions):

Average of 1 person every 18 minutes killed themselves.
Average of 1 old person every 1 hour 35.8 minutes killed themselves.
Average of 1 young person every 2 hours 14.7 minutes killed themselves. (If the 244 suicides below age 15 are included, 1 young person every 2 hours 6.8 minutes)
4.1 male completions for each female completion.
11th ranking cause of death in U.S.A.-- ranks 3rd for young

Causes of Death Among Those 15-24 Yrs. of Age, 1999:

Cause	Number	Rate
All Causes	30,656	81.2
1-Accidents	13,656	36.2
2-Homicide	4,998	13.2
3-Suicide	3,901	10.3

Suicide ranks 11th as a cause of death; Homicide ranks 14th. That is, more Americans kill themselves than are killed by others.

Attempts (figures are estimates; no official U.S. national attempt data are compiled; based on research findings):

730,000 annual attempts in U.S. (based on 25:1 death by suicide ratio)
25 attempts for every completion for nation.
100-200:1 for young, and 4:1 for elderly (attempts to completion ratios)
5 million living Americans (estimate) have attempted to kill themselves
3 female attempts for each male attempt

Survivors ("Suicide survivors" refers to the family, friends, significant others, and loved ones of individuals who die by suicide. No official data exist to determine the number of survivors and no systematic or large-scale epidemiological study has been conducted to provide better estimates.):

Each suicide intimately affects at least 6 other people (estimate)
Based on 1999 suicides, the resulting number of survivors was 175,000 that year
If there is a suicide every 18 minutes, then there are 6 new survivors every 18 minutes as well
Based on the over 736,000 suicides from 1975 through 1999, it is estimated that the number of survivors of suicides in the U.S. is 4.4 million (1 of every 62 Americans in 1999)

Men, Women, Young, Old All Use Firearms as Their Leading Method of Suicide

Suicide by Firearms:

Number

Rate
Percent of Total
All Other Methods

Number

Rate
Percent of Total

Firearm suicides USA

16,599

6.1
56.8%
All Other USA

12,600

4.6
43.2%

Firearm suicides Young

2,315

6.1
59.3%
All Other Young

1,586

4.2
40.7%

Firearm suicides Old

3,921

11.4
71.4%
All Other Old

1,568

4.5
28.6%

Firearm suicides Male

14,479

10.9
61.7%
All Other Male

8,979

6.7
38.3%

Firearm suicides Female

2,120

1.5
36.9%
All Other Female

3,621

2.6
63.1%

U.S.A. Suicide Rates by Age
(Rates per 100,000 population)
1990-1999
Age/Group	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
5-14	00.8	00.7	00.9	00.9	00.9	00.9	00.8	00.8	00.8	0.6
15-24	13.2	13.1	13.0	13.5	13.8	13.3	12.0	11.4	11.1	10.3
25-34	15.2	15.2	14.5	15.1	15.4	15.4	14.5	14.3	13.8	13.5
35-44	15.3	14.7	15.1	15.1	15.3	15.2	15.5	15.3	15.4	14.4
45-54	14.8	15.5	14.7	14.5	14.4	14.6	14.9	14.7	14.8	14.2
55-64	16.0	15.4	14.8	14.6	13.4	13.3	13.7	13.5	13.1	12.4
65-74	17.9	16.9	16.5	16.3	15.3	15.8	15.0	14.4	14.1	13.6
75-84	24.9	23.5	22.8	22.3	21.3	20.7	20.0	19.3	19.7	18.3
85+	22.2	24.0	21.9	22.8	23.0	21.6	20.2	20.8	21.0	19.2
65+	20.5	19.7	19.1	19.0	18.1	18.1	17.3	16.8	16.9	15.9
Total	12.4	12.2	12.0	12.1	12.0	11.9	11.6	11.4	11.3	10.7
Men	20.4	20.1	19.6	19.9	19.8	19.8	19.3	18.7	18.6	17.6
Women	4.8	4.7	4.6	4.6	4.5	4.4	4.4	4.4	4.4	4.1
White	13.5	13.3	13.0	13.1	12.9	12.9	12.7	12.4	12.4	11.7
Nonwhite	7.0	6.8	6.8	7.1	7.2	6.9	6.7	6.5	6.2	6.0
Black	6.9	6.7	6.8	7.0	7.0	6.7	6.5	6.2	5.7	5.6

15 Leading Causes of Death in the U.S.A., 1999
(total of 2,391,399 deaths)
Rank	Cause of Death	Rate	Deaths
1	Diseases of the heart	265.9	725,192
2	Malignant neoplasms	201.6	549,838
3	Cerebrovascular diseases	61.4	167,366
4	Chronic lower respiratory diseases	45.5	124,181
5	Accidents	35.9	97,860
6	Diabetes mellitus	25.1	68,399
7	Influenza and pneumonia	23.4	63,730
8	Alzheimer's disease	16.3	44,536
9	Nephritis, nephrosis	13.0	35,525
10	Septicemia	11.3	30,680
11	Suicide	10.7	29,199
12	Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis	9.6	26,259
13	Essential hypertension and renal disease	6.2	16,968
14	Homicide	6.2	16,889
15	Aortic aneurysm and dissection	5.8	15,807
-	All other causes (Residual)	139.0	378,970

Old made up 12.7% of 1999 population but committed 18.8% of the suicides.

Young were 13.9% of 1999 population and committed 13.4% of the suicides.

Official data source: Hoyert, D.L., Arias, E., Smith, B.L., Murphy, S.L., & Kochanek, K.D. (2001). Deaths: Final data for 1999. National Vital Statistics Report, 49(8). Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. [Some data from: Anderson, R.N. (2001). Deaths: Leading causes for 1999. National Vital Statistics Report, 49(11). Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics.]

Population figures source: Table V, p. 106, of the National Center for Health Statistics (Hoyert et al., 2001) publication above.

Note: Some caution is warranted in comparing causes of death from other years to those for 1999. The classification system employed (the International Classification of Diseases - ICD) was revised beginning with 1999 deaths (ICD-10). This affected some causes more than others; suicide was affected minimally by these changes. For a brief discussion of this issue, particularly related to the ranking of causes of death, see this document.

	number of suicides by group	Suicide Data Page: 1999
suicide rate =	-----------------------------------	X 100,000	20 December 2001
	population of group	Prepared for AAS by John L. McIntosh, Ph.D.

American Association of Suicidology

4201 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 408

Washington, DC 20008

(202) 237-2280 Phone

(202) 237-2282 FAX

www.suicidology.org Website

ajkulp@suicidology.org Email

"to understand and prevent suicide as a means of promoting human well-being"

| 1999 State Data | Additional 1999 Detailed Data Tables |

| 1998 Final Data | 1998 State Data | 1997 Final Data |

Visitors since October 2, 2000 Counter provided by

12/27/01 - JLM- Prepared for the American Association of Suicidology by John L. McIntosh, Ph.D.

	Number	Per Day	Rate	% of Deaths	Group (Number of Sui.)	Rate
Nation	29,199	80.0	10.7	1.2	White Male (21,107)	19.1
Males	23,458	64.3	17.6	2.0	White Female (5,193)	4.5
Females	5,741	15.7	4.1	0.5	Nonwhite Male (2,351)	10.2
Whites	26,300	72.1	11.7	1.3	Nonwhite Female (548)	2.2
Nonwhites	2,899	7.9	6.0	0.9	Black Male (1,651)	10.0
Blacks	1,950	5.3	5.6	0.7	Black Female (299)	1.6
Elderly (65+ yrs.)	5,489	15.0	15.9	0.3	Native American (291)	12.1
Young (15-24 yrs.)	3,901	10.7	10.3	12.7	Asian/Pacific Islander (658)	6.1

Age Group	Number of Suicides	Suicide Rate
10-14 yrs	242	1.2
15-19 yrs	1,615	8.2
20-24 yrs	2,286	12.7

Suicide by Firearms:	Number	Rate	Percent of Total	All Other Methods	Number	Rate	Percent of Total
Firearm suicides USA	16,599	6.1	56.8%	All Other USA	12,600	4.6	43.2%
Firearm suicides Young	2,315	6.1	59.3%	All Other Young	1,586	4.2	40.7%
Firearm suicides Old	3,921	11.4	71.4%	All Other Old	1,568	4.5	28.6%
Firearm suicides Male	14,479	10.9	61.7%	All Other Male	8,979	6.7	38.3%
Firearm suicides Female	2,120	1.5	36.9%	All Other Female	3,621	2.6	63.1%