ATLANTA, Ga. — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday that the annual firearm suicide rate in the U.S. climbed to the highest documented level in the organization's history.
According to the CDC, the firearm suicide rate increased by approximately 11% from 7.3 per 100,000 person-years in 2019 to 8.1 per 100,0000 in 2022. It was the highest level for any year the CDC has data for dating back to 1968.
The data from the CDC showed that suicide rates "increased in all racial and ethnic groups from 2019 through 2022, but the magnitude of increase differed among groups."
Researchers with the CDC found that non-Hispanic White persons saw the highest overall firearm suicide rate in 2022 at 11.1 per 100,000 person-years. That translated to a 9.2% increase from 2019.
However, the firearm suicide rate among American Indian/Alaskan Native persons jumped 66% from 6.4 per 100,000 in 2019 to 10.6 per 100,000 in 2022.
Among non-Hispanic Black or African American and Hispanic or Latino persons, the CDC said 2022 rates were lower but still showed an overall increase of 42% and 28%, respectively, from 2019 to 2022.
Researchers said there were multiple social and structural factors contributing to the increases, including the pandemic, lack of mental health care, and/or unemployment.
According to the CDC's research, potential approaches to lowering firearm suicide risk include secure firearm storage, better access to mental health and social service providers, and other techniques, including fostering positive social connections and more.
If you are struggling with mental health or in crisis, help is available by calling 988 or 911.
