Provisional Numbers and Rates of Suicide by Month and Demographic Characteristics: United States, 2020

Abstract

Objectives—This report presents provisional numbers of deaths due to suicide by demographic characteristics (sex and race and Hispanic origin) and by month for 2020 and compares them with final numbers for 2019. Both age-adjusted and age-specific suicide rates are presented by sex and race and Hispanic origin and compared with final 2019 rates. Methods—Data are based on 99% of all 2020 death records received and processed by the National Center for Health Statistics as of May 19, 2021. Comparisons are made with final 2019 data. Deaths due to suicide were identified using International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision underlying cause-of-death codes U03, X60–X84, and Y87.0. Results—The provisional number of suicides in 2020 (45,855) was 3% lower than in 2019 (47,511). The provisional age-adjusted suicide rate was also 3% lower in 2020 (13.5 per 100,000) than in 2019 (13.9). The monthly number of suicides was lower in 2020 than in 2019 in March through October and December. The largest percentage difference between monthly numbers for 2019 and 2020 occurred in April, where the provisional number in 2020 (3,468) was 14% lower than in 2019 (4,029). The age-adjusted suicide rate was 2% lower in 2020 than in 2019 for males (21.9 compared with 22.4) and 8% lower for females (5.5 compared with 6.0). Females in all race and Hispanic-origin groups experienced declines in suicide rates between 2019 and 2020, although only the 10% decline for non-Hispanic white females was significant. Rates declined for nonHispanic white and non-Hispanic Asian males but increased for non-Hispanic black, non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native, and Hispanic males.