2007 to 2021 saw increase in suicide rates for those aged 10 to 24

For youth aged 10 to 24 years, suicide rates increased from 2007 through 2021, while homicide rates decreased from 2006 through 2014 and then increased, according to a June data brief published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Health Statistics.

Sally C. Curtin and Matthew F. Garnett, M.P.H., from the National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, Maryland, used the most recent data from the National Vital Statistics System to present trends from 2001 through 2021 in suicide and homicide rates for people aged 10 to 24 years.

The researchers found that from 2007 through 2021, suicide rates increased from 6.8 to 11.0 deaths per 100,000 among those aged 10 to 24 years, while homicide rates decreased from 2006 to 2014 and then increased through 2021. From 2007 through 2018, the suicide rate tripled for those aged 10 to 14 years (from 0.9 to 2.9), and then did not change significantly through 2021, while there was a doubling in the homicide rate from 2016 through 2021. The suicide rate increased from 2009 to 2017 among those aged 15 to 19 years, and the homicide rate decreased from 2006 through 2013 and then increased through 2021, surpassing the suicide rate in 2020. There was an increase seen in the suicide rate over the entire period for those aged 20 to 24, while the homicide rate increased from 2014 to 2020, then remained stable in 2021.

"In 2021, suicide and homicide were the second and third leading causes of death, respectively, for people aged 10 to 24," the authors write.