By the Numbers: 10 September 2018

By the Numbers: 10 September 2018

21.1%
The CY 2016 suicide mortality rate per 100,000 Active Duty Service members, according to the most recent DoDSER - Department of Defense Suicide Event Report - Calendar Year 2016 Annual Report.

This rate was consistent with the three-year average suicide mortality rate for CY 2013–2015. Overall, there was no evidence of a change in this combined suicide mortality rate since CY 2011, the first year with comparable data available for trend analysis.

The CY 2016 suicide mortality rate for the Reserve Component was 22 deaths per 100,000 reservists. For the National Guard, the rate was 27.3 deaths per 100,000 Guard members. According to the report:

The CY 2015 suicide mortality rate for the U.S. general population, aged 17–59, provides a guide for the mortality rate expected in the military population. As of the writing of this report, the U.S. rate was 17.3 per 100,000 members of the general population. After accounting for differences in the age and sex distributions between the U.S. general population and the military populations, the adjusted suicide mortality rate for the Active Component, all Services— 17.0 deaths per 100,000 population members—was consistent with the rate for the U.S general population. The adjusted suicide mortality rate for the Reserve Component, all Services—17.6 deaths per 100,000 population members—was also consistent with the rate for the U.S. general population. However, the adjusted suicide-mortality rate for the Guard Component, combined across the Air and Army Guard—21.8 deaths per 100,000 population members—was higher than the rate for the U.S. general population.