By the Numbers - 1 November 2021
31.6 per 100,000
TThe veteran suidice rate in 2019, according to the 2021 National Veteran Suicide Annual Report from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The report indicates that this is "substantially higher than the rate among non-Veteran US adults (16.8 per 100,000)."
Additional data points from the report:
- In 2019, there were 6,261 Veteran suicide deaths, 399 fewer than in 2018.
- Adjusting for age- and sex-differences, the rate among Veterans in 2019 was 52.3% higher than for non-Veteran US adults. The rate difference between Veterans and the non-Veteran U.S. population was highest in 2017 at 66.3%.
- From 2018 to 2019, there was a 7.2% overall decrease in the age- and sex-adjusted Veteran suicide mortality rate in 2019, while among non-Veteran US adults, the adjusted suicide mortality rate fell by 1.8%.
- The age-adjusted suicide rate for male Veterans decreased 3.8% in 2019 from 2018 while the age-adjusted suicide rate for female Veterans decreased 14.9% in 2019 from 2018.
- Firearms were more often involved in Veteran suicides in 2019 than in 2018 (among Veteran men who died from suicide: 69.6% in 2018, 70.2% in 2019; among Veteran women who died from suicide: 41.1% in 2018, 49.8% in 2019).
31.6 per 100,000
TThe veteran suidice rate in 2019, according to the 2021 National Veteran Suicide Annual Report from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The report indicates that this is "substantially higher than the rate among non-Veteran US adults (16.8 per 100,000)."
Additional data points from the report:
- In 2019, there were 6,261 Veteran suicide deaths, 399 fewer than in 2018.
- Adjusting for age- and sex-differences, the rate among Veterans in 2019 was 52.3% higher than for non-Veteran US adults. The rate difference between Veterans and the non-Veteran U.S. population was highest in 2017 at 66.3%.
- From 2018 to 2019, there was a 7.2% overall decrease in the age- and sex-adjusted Veteran suicide mortality rate in 2019, while among non-Veteran US adults, the adjusted suicide mortality rate fell by 1.8%.
- The age-adjusted suicide rate for male Veterans decreased 3.8% in 2019 from 2018 while the age-adjusted suicide rate for female Veterans decreased 14.9% in 2019 from 2018.
- Firearms were more often involved in Veteran suicides in 2019 than in 2018 (among Veteran men who died from suicide: 69.6% in 2018, 70.2% in 2019; among Veteran women who died from suicide: 41.1% in 2018, 49.8% in 2019).