Suicide among adults age 55 and older, 2021

Suicide is a leading cause of mortality in the United States, with an age-adjusted rate of 14.1 deaths per 100,000 population in 2021 (1). Older adults tend to have higher rates of suicide, although they represent a low percentage of the total number of suicides (2). Factors that specifically affect older adults can include declines in physical and cognitive functioning, changes in mental health, and other factors often associated with getting older, like bereavement, loneliness, and lack of social connectedness (3–8). This report presents suicide rates for adults age 55 and older by sex and mechanism of suicide.