Suicide Prevention – Statistics

Suicide is a national public health issue that affects people from all walks of life. Suicide is a complex issue with no single cause and we are committed to ending Veteran suicide.

According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs 2021 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report, Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, 2021 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report (PDF) :

The U.S. population, as well as the Veteran population, experienced a decrease in the suicide count and rate from 2018 to 2019. 45,861 Americans adults died by suicide in 2019. Veterans accounted for 6,261 of these deaths.

For this report, a Veteran is defined as someone who has been activated for federal military service and was not currently serving at the time of death.

Report Statistics

• 2023 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report: In 2021, suicide was the 13th-leading cause of death for Veterans overall, and the second-leading cause of death among Veterans under age 45-years-old.  There were 6,392 Veteran suicide deaths in 2021. This was 114 more than in 2020.  17.5 suicide deaths per day among Veterans.   In 2021, there were 6,042 suicide deaths among Veteran men and 350 suicide deaths among Veteran women.  The unadjusted rate of suicide in 2021 among U.S. Veterans was 33.9 per 100,000, up from 32.6 per 100,000 in 2020. 

Resource:  https://www.mentalhealth.va.gov/suicide_prevention/data.asp

COVID-19: Monitoring of VHA Suicide-Related Indicators Key Finding:

• VA has not observed increases in documentation of the above suicide-related indicators.
• VA has observed increases in all-cause mortality among Veteran VHA patients, including those with and those without diagnosed mental health conditions. Increased all-cause mortality associated with the pandemic exceeds the number of VA deaths that have been directly attributed to COVID-19.
• Age- and sex-adjusted all-cause mortality is greater among Veterans in VHA care with mental health conditions compared to other Veterans in VHA care.
• The level of differential mortality by mental health status has not increased since the pandemic began.

• 2024 Office of Analytics Suicide Mortality Report- In 2023, 129 Veterans died by suicide.  The rates of suicide among the Veteran population fluctuate from year to year but overall remain higher than the rates of suicide among non-veteran populations (per capita).  Suicide ranks as the 9th primary cause of death among both Veteran and Non-Veteran populations at 2% of the total deaths in Nevada.  In 2023, the highest percentage of suicides occurred in the 75-84 age group accounting for 22% for N=129.   In 2023, the veteran population rate of 59.4 per 100,000 compared to the non-veteran population rate of 19.5 per 100,000.
• 2024 Office of Analytics Suicide Mortality Report- Between 2019 to 2023:  613 Veterans died by suicide.  Highest percent of suicides occurred in the 75-84 age group among Veterans accounting for 22% of the N=613 suicide-related deaths.  The highest number of suicides between Veterans and Non-Veterans were caused by firearms accounting for 58% of Non-Veteran deaths and 77% of Veteran deaths.  Among the male population, 78% of Veteran suicides were by firearms/explosives, compared to 62% of Non-Veteran suicides.  Among the female population, the greatest difference in method was firearms/explosives, which accounted for 67% of Veteran suicide deaths and 40% of Non-Veteran suicide deaths.

Resource:  https://dhhs.nv.gov/uploadedFiles/dhhsnvgov/content/Programs/Office_of_Analytics/Veteran%20Suicide%20Report%20November%202024%20-%20FINAL.pdf

Current Department of Health and Human Services Report: DHHS Suicide Prevention Report- November 2020

Previous Annual Report: 2020 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report (PDF)