The suicide rate per 100,000 veterans increased in 2023, rising from 13.7 to 13.9 for women and from 37.3 to 37.8 for men, according to the Department of Veteran Affairs’ “National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report.”
The report, published Feb. 5, examined veteran suicide trends from 2001 through 2023, the most recent year of available data. While the report showed a slight year-over-year decline in the total number of veteran suicides, it also highlighted rising suicide rates among men and women and gaps in access to care.
Here are four more things to know:
- There were 6,398 suicides among veterans in 2023, down from 6,442 in 2022. The average number of veteran suicides per day fell to 17.5 from 17.6 the previous year, according to the report.
- The report found that 61% of veterans who died by suicide in 2023 were not receiving VA healthcare in the last year of their lives.
- VA said suicide rates remained elevated among veterans ages 18-34 and among those with risk factors including homelessness, health problems and pain, according to the report. Pain was the most frequently identified risk factor among veterans who died by suicide and was reported by VA suicide prevention teams from 2021 to 2023.
- The department said it enrolled more than 33,000 previously unenrolled veterans in VA care since January 2025, completed more than 5.3 million suicide screenings in 2021, and handled 1.3 million calls, chats and texts through the veterans crisis line in 2025.
