Suicide literature increasingly has contained statements suggesting that the differences in completed suicide between the sexes is lessening. Official suicide data for 1933-1980 verifies such a trend from the 1950’s through 1971. However, increased differences were constantly observed from 1971-1980. These trends were found for: data for the nation, whites & non-whites, numbers of suicides, crude rates, & age adjusted rates. Possible explanations for these findings are presented. 33 Ref.