Data and Resources

Data and Resources

This page includes how to find Washington and national suicide data and reports.

WA suicide data | National suicide data | WA reports on suicide prevention | National reports on suicide prevention

Washington suicide data

Department of Health

• Death Data Dashboards – Updated each year, view the interactive dashboards on injury-related death (unintentional, suicide, homicide, undetermined death) in Washington State and how the impact has changed over time, across age groups and gender, and by county, ACH, trauma and EMS region. A part of the Washington Tracking Network (WTN).
• WTN Query portal – View and compare suicide data by time period and geography (county, census tract, state).
• WA-VDRS collects data on unintentional firearm-related deaths, suicides, homicides, legal intervention and undetermined deaths in Washington state. The information is from death certificates, medical examiner and coroner reports, law enforcement incident reports, and toxicology reports
• Find 2013-2017 WA's leading causes of death, including suicide, by age group, ACH region, and EMS & Trauma region on the Injury and Violence Prevention data page.

View reports by published year:

2023

• Report: Adolescent Mental Health -Significant Challenges And Strategies For Improvement in Washington State (PDF)

2021

• Presentation: Suicide in WA (PDF)
• Presentation: Suicide among men in middle years in WA (PDF)
• Presentation: Veteran Suicide in Washington State (PDF)

2020

• Factsheet: Sharing Suicide Data to Save Lives (PDF)
• Factsheet: Veteran Suicide Data (PDF)
• Factsheet: Sharing Data to Prevent Youth Suicide (PDF)
• Factsheet: Sharing Data to Prevent Young Adult Suicide (PDF)
• Factsheet: Sharing Data to Prevent Adult Male Suicide (PDF)
• Factsheet: Sharing Data to Prevent Older Adult Suicide (PDF)

2019

• Factsheet: Sharing Suicide Data to Save Lives 2015-2017 (PDF)
• Presentation: Suicide data slides 2017 (PDF) has graphs and talking points on WA suicide data and the WA Violent Death Reporting System.
• Firearm Fatality and Suicide Prevention A Public Health Approach (PDF) – 2018 report on firearm-related death and suicide and prevention resources.

2018

• Suicide & Safe Storage of Firearms fact sheet (PDF) summarizes state data on suicide and survey data on safe storage practices. There is also information on how Washington is addressing both topics.

2017

• Explore WA State Violent Death Reporting System & Suicide for suicide data from death certificates, medical examiner and coroner reports, law enforcement incident reports, and toxicology reports.

Collaborative information

• The Washington Poison Center analyzed 2018 call data to create this report on children and adolescent self-poisoning. It includes reported and suspected suicidal intent.
• The Healthy Youth Survey gathers information about students in grades six, eight, 10 and 12 every two years.
• The Washington State Occupational Mortality Database compares suicide ratios for men and women by profession. In 2017, they reported the WA occupations with the highest suicide rates.

National suicide data

Many sources provide national data on suicide.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC)

The Centers for Disease Control offers a comprehensive list of national suicide data resources.

The VA releases annual suicide data. Here is the 2019 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report. It includes the most recent analysis of veteran suicide data from 2005 to 2017 and highlights data-driven prevention efforts implemented by VA and its partners.

• In June 2018, the CDC released new data on rising suicide rates based on data from the National Violent Death Reporting System.
• The WISQARS database Includes national data on injury and death, including the cost of injury and death. These data can be sorted by state.
• CDC WONDER Dashboard - The Underlying Cause of Death database contains mortality and population counts for all U.S. counties.

National organizations

• The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
  • Recent statistics on suicide
• The American Association of Suicidology provides national suicide statistics as soon as they become available from the National Center for Health Statistics. The most current statistics are from 2017.
• Suicide Prevention Resource Center provides data and graphs based on current information and research.

WA reports on suicide prevention

• Washington Law Enforcement Officer Mental Health & Wellness Task Force 2021 Report (PDF)
• Washington State Suicide Prevention Plan (PDF)
• 2019 Annual Washington firearm fatality and suicide prevention report (PDF)
  • 2018 Annual Washington firearm fatality and suicide prevention report (PDF)
  • 2017 report and update on Exec. Order 16-02 (PDF)
• 2018 Suicide Education Report (PDF)
  • December 2013 Suicide Education Study Report to the Legislature (PDF)
• Improving Behavioral Health & Suicide Prevention in the Agricultural Industry 2020 Report (PDF)
• Improving Behavioral Health & Suicide Prevention in the Agricultural Industry 2019 Report (PDF)
• Improving Behavioral Health & Suicide Prevention in the Agricultural Industry 2018 Report (PDF)
• Bree Collaborative Suicide Care report
• March 2018 Firearm Injury Prevention (PDF)
• February 2018 Suicide & Safe Storage of Firearms fact sheet (PDF)
• January 2016 Executive Order 16-02 on firearm fatality and suicide prevention (PDF)
• Healthy Youth Survey Press Releases
• Washington Mass Shootings Work Group Findings and Recommendations (PDF)

National reports on suicide

• State Suicide Prevention Infrastructure Recommendations
• CDC's Preventing Suicide: A Technical Package of Policy. Programs, and Practices (PDF)
• National Action Alliance's Transforming Communities: Key Elements for the Implementation of Comprehensive Community-Based Suicide Prevention
• Recommended Standard Care for People with Suicide Risk: Making Health Care Suicide Safe
• After a Suicide: A Toolkit for Schools (PDF)
• World Health Organization's National Suicide Prevention Strategies: Progress, Examples, and Indicators
• The Way Forward: Pathways to hope, recovery, and wellness with insights from lived experience
• U.S. Department of Veterans Affair's National Strategy for Preventing Veteran Suicide
• National Strategy for Suicide Prevention (PDF)
• A Manager's Guide to Suicide Postvention the Workplace
• Suicide Prevention Competencies for Faith Leaders: Supporting Life Before, During, and After a Suicidal Crisis
• Annals of Internal Medicine 2019 April - Household Firearm Ownership and Storage Suicide Risk Factors and Memory Loss Among Older Adults

Find more resources at the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention.