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U.S.A. SUICIDE: 2003 OFFICIAL FINAL DATA
Number
Per Day*
Rate
% of Deaths

Group (Number of Sui.)
Rate

Nation
31,484
86.3
10.8
1.3

White Male (22,830)
19.5

Males
25,203
69.0
17.6
2.1

White Female (5,655)
4.7

Females
6,281
17.2
4.3
0.5

Nonwhite Male (2,373)
9.1

Whites
28,485
78.0
12.1
1.4

Nonwhite Female (626)
2.2

Nonwhites
2,999
8.2
5.5
0.9

Black Male (1,597)
8.8

Blacks
1,955
5.4
5.1
0.7

Black Female (358)
1.8

Elderly (65+ yrs.)
5,248
14.4
14.6
0.3

Hispanic (2,007)
5.0

Young (15-24 yrs.)
3,988
10.9
9.7
11.9

Native American (322)
10.4

Asian/Pacific Islander (722)
5.5
a slight decline from 2002 was seen in 2003, but continues a pattern primarily of stability or slight decline in recent years

* Note: there were 365 days in the year 2003.
Age Group

Number of Suicides

Suicide Rate
10-14 yrs

244

1.2
15-19 yrs

1,487

7.3
20-24 yrs

2,501

12.1

Extrapolations about:

Deaths by Suicide (Completions):

Causes of Death Among Those 15-24 Yrs. of Age, 2003:

Cause
Number
Rate

All Causes
33,046
81.4

1-Accidents
15,412
38.0

2-Homicide
5,219
12.9

3-Suicide
4,010
9.9

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

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.):

Firearms are the Leading Method of Suicide

Suicide Methods:

Number

Rate
Percent of Total

Number

Rate
Percent of Total

Firearm suicides

16,907

5.8
53.7%

All but Firearms

14,577

5.0
46.3%

Suffocation/Hanging

6,635

2.3
21.1%

Poisoning

5,462

1.9
17.3%

Cut/Pierce

571

0.2
1.8%

Drowning

339

0.1
1.2%

U.S.A. Suicide Rates
(Rates per 100,000 population)
1990-2003
Age/Group
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
5-14
0.8
0.7
0.9
0.9
0.9
0.9
0.8
0.8
0.8
0.6
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.6
15-24
13.2
13.1
13.0
13.5
13.8
13.3
12.0
11.4
11.1
10.3
10.4
9.9
9.9
9.7
25-34
15.2
15.2
14.5
15.1
15.4
15.4
14.5
14.3
13.8
13.5
12.8
12.8
12.6
12.7
35-44
15.3
14.7
15.1
15.1
15.3
15.2
15.5
15.3
15.4
14.4
14.6
14.7
15.3
14.9
45-54
14.8
15.5
14.7
14.5
14.4
14.6
14.9
14.7
14.8
14.2
14.6
15.2
15.7
15.9
55-64
16.0
15.4
14.8
14.6
13.4
13.3
13.7
13.5
13.1
12.4
12.3
13.1
13.6
13.8
65-74
17.9
16.9
16.5
16.3
15.3
15.8
15.0
14.4
14.1
13.6
12.6
13.3
13.5
12.7
75-84
24.9
23.5
22.8
22.3
21.3
20.7
20.0
19.3
19.7
18.3
17.7
17.4
17.7
16.4
85+
22.2
24.0
21.9
22.8
23.0
21.6
20.2
20.8
21.0
19.2
19.4
17.5
18.0
16.9
65+
20.5
19.7
19.1
19.0
18.1
18.1
17.3
16.8
16.9
15.9
15.3
15.3
15.6
14.6
Total
12.4
12.2
12.0
12.1
12.0
11.9
11.6
11.4
11.3
10.7
10.7
10.8
11.0
10.8
Men
20.4
20.1
19.6
19.9
19.8
19.8
19.3
18.7
18.6
17.6
17.5
17.6
17.9
17.6
Women
4.8
4.7
4.6
4.6
4.5
4.4
4.4
4.4
4.4
4.1
4.1
4.1
4.3
4.3
White
13.5
13.3
13.0
13.1
12.9
12.9
12.7
12.4
12.4
11.7
11.7
11.9
12.2
12.1
Nonwhite
7.0
6.8
6.8
7.1
7.2
6.9
6.7
6.5
6.2
6.0
5.9
5.6
5.5
5.5
Black
6.9
6.7
6.8
7.0
7.0
6.7
6.5
6.2
5.7
5.6
5.6
5.3
5.1
5.1
15 Leading Causes of Death in the U.S.A., 2003
(total of 2,448,288 deaths; 841.9 rate)

Rank

Cause of Death

Rate

Deaths
1

Diseases of the heart (heart disease)

235.6

685,089
2

Malignant neoplasms (cancer)

191.5

556,902
3

Cerebrovascular diseases (stroke)

54.2

157,689
4

Chronic lower respiratory diseases

43.5

126,382
5

Accidents (unintentional injuries)

37.6

109,277
6

Diabetes mellitus (diabetes)

25.5

74,219
7

Influenza and pneumonia

22.4

65,163
8

Alzheimer's disease

21.8

63,457
9

Nephritis, nephrosis (kidney disease)

14.6

42,453
10

Septicemia

11.7

34,069
11

Suicide [intentional self-harm]

10.8

31,484
12

Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis

9.5

27,503
13

Essential hypertension and renal disease

7.5

21,940
14

Parkinson's disease

6.2

17,997
15

Homicide [assault]

6.1

17,732
-

All other causes (Residual)

143.4

416,932

Old made up 12.4% of 2003 population but represented 16.7% of the suicides.

Young were 14.2% of 2003 population and comprised 12.7% of the suicides.

Official data source: CDC's WISQARS website and "Fatal Injury Reports": http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/wisqars/ 7 February 2006.

Note: Some caution is warranted in comparing causes of death from other years to those for 1999 - 2003. 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: 2003

suicide rate =
-----------------------------------

X 100,000

12 February 2006

population of group

Prepared for AAS by John L. McIntosh, Ph.D.
American Association of Suicidology
5221 Wisconsin Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20015
(202) 237-2280 Phone
(202) 237-2282 FAX
www.suicidology.org Website
info@suicidology.org Email
"to understand and prevent suicide as a means of promoting human well-being"
| 2003 State Data | 2003 Additional Statistics and Tables |

| 2002 Summary Data | 2001 Summary Data (PDF) | 2000 Summary Data | 1999 Summary Data |

PDF file of the primary information on this page

| Suicide Data Archive | Suicide Statistics Link Page | 

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2/12/06 - JLM- Prepared for the American Association of Suicidology by John L. McIntosh, Ph.D.