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The U.S. firearm suicide rate rose about 11% between 2019 and 2022, from 7.3 to 8.1 per 100,000, the highest level recorded since at least 1968, the earliest year in CDC WONDER. It rose in every racial and ethnic group, by very different amounts.
Background
Over the previous two decades, overall suicide rates and firearm suicide rates had each risen by about a third. In 2022 there were nearly 50,000 suicides, about 27,000 of them by firearm. Firearms account for about half of all suicides, a share that has been growing. This CDC analysis used National Vital Statistics System death data (final for 2019–2021, provisional for 2022) and Census Bureau population estimates to track firearm suicide rates by race and ethnicity, by year and by month (by quarter for American Indian and Alaska Native people, whose monthly counts are small).
The numbers
Firearm suicides per 100,000 people a year (number of deaths):
| Group | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Indian or Alaska Native | 6.4 (154) | 9.3 (225) | 10.0 (241) | 10.6 (256) |
| Asian or Pacific Islander | 1.7 (337) | 1.7 (343) | 1.9 (379) | 1.9 (395) |
| Black or African American | 3.8 (1,546) | 4.3 (1,784) | 5.2 (2,165) | 5.3 (2,237) |
| White | 10.2 (20,090) | 10.0 (19,851) | 10.8 (21,197) | 11.1 (21,726) |
| Hispanic or Latino | 2.5 (1,534) | 2.9 (1,790) | 3.3 (2,037) | 3.3 (2,073) |
| Overall | 7.3 (23,941) | 7.3 (24,292) | 7.9 (26,328) | 8.1 (27,024) |
All groups other than Hispanic or Latino are non-Hispanic. The overall figures include people of more than one race, not shown separately. Some groups, especially American Indian and Alaska Native people, may be undercounted because of misclassification.
- White people had the highest rate, 11.1 in 2022, up 9% from 2019.
- American Indian and Alaska Native people saw the largest rise, 66%, from 6.4 to 10.6.
- Black and Hispanic or Latino people had lower rates in 2022 (5.3 and 3.3) but rises of 42% and 28%.
- Asian or Pacific Islander people had the lowest rates, up 10%, from 1.7 to 1.9.
Why, and what can be done
The authors say many social and structural factors likely contributed. The large rise among American Indian and Alaska Native people may reflect inequities, in access to mental health care or in unemployment, made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the pandemic may also have worsened known risk factors such as social isolation, relationship stress and substance use.
The steady rise since 2020 in every group, and the unprecedented rates of 2022, show the need for continued prevention. Public health organisations can bring sectors together to put in place the evidence-based strategies in CDC's Suicide Prevention Resource for Action. For firearm suicides, these include promoting secure firearm storage and counselling mental health and social service providers on access to lethal means. Broader strategies include building positive social connections, identifying and supporting people at risk, and tackling inequities in economic security and housing.
Sources
- Kaczkowski W, Kegler SR, Chen MS, Zwald ML, Stone DM, Sumner SA. "Notes from the Field: Firearm Suicide Rates, by Race and Ethnicity — United States, 2019–2022." MMWR. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/72/wr/mm7248a3.htm
Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain) · Adapted from www.cdc.gov
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