U.S. suicide rate soars steadily since 1999: study

Suicide rate in the United States has soared by 24 percent from 1999 to 2014 for all age groups between 10 and 74, showed a report released by a federal authority on Friday.

The report by the National Center for Health Statistics found 13 Americans out of every 100,000 took their own lives in 2014, compared with 10.5 per 100,000 in 1999.

"The rate of suicide has gone up nearly steadily since 1999," said Sally Curtin, lead author of the report, adding that the average annual percent increase in suicide rate was about 1 percent per year from 1999 through 2006 but rose to 2 percent per year from 2006 to 2014.

The suicide rate among women rose more quickly than among men, yet males continued to account for the majority of deaths in 2014, according to the report.

For men, the biggest rate increases were seen in the middle-age group -- males 45 to 64 years old. For women, the fastest growing suicide rates during the same period occurred in girls 10 to 14 years old.

"The increase in rates for the youngest group was striking, tripling to 150 total suicides in 2014," Curtin told the CBS news.

However, the report didn't identify causes behind the rise in suicide.

Last decade's severe recession, more drug addiction, "gray divorce", increased social isolation, and even the rise of the Internet and social media may have contributed to the trend, a New York Times report noted.

The rise of suicide, which remains one of the 10 leading causes of death for Americans, comes amid a long-term decline of death rates for most other major killers such as cancer and heart disease. Endit