What are provisional US suicide rates by age group for 2025 from the CDC?
Executive summary
The CDC’s provisional data system (CDC WONDER/NCHS provisional mortality) provides interim suicide rates by age group for recent years, with data accessed March 11, 2025 representing deaths received through March 10, 2025 (per CDC’s Suicide Data & Statistics page) [1]. The CDC’s public pages and NCHS briefs publish final rates through 2023 and provisional numbers for 2024–2025, but the search results provided do not include a single table listing provisional 2025 suicide rates by age group; available sources describe the system and trends and give provisional updates without publishing a consolidated 2025 age-group table in these results [1] [2] [3].
1. What the CDC’s “provisional” suicide rates are and why they matter
The CDC’s provisional suicide rates come from death certificates received but not fully processed; CDC WONDER and the NCHS publish these provisional estimates so policymakers and researchers can detect emerging trends before final vital statistics are compiled [1] [3]. Provisional data are explicitly labeled as “received, but not yet fully reviewed,” which means provisional counts can change as additional death certificates are submitted and causes are adjudicated [1]. This timeliness vs. completeness trade-off is central to interpreting any provisional 2025 age-group figures [1].
2. What the supplied CDC sources actually report about 2023–2024 trends
NCHS and CDC reports in the provided results show final suicide rates through 2023 and describe increases or small declines in subgroups; for example, NCHS materials report suicide remained among the leading causes of death through 2022 and provide final 2023 analyses in data briefs and blogs cited here [2] [4] [5]. The CDC’s Suicide Data & Statistics page notes data were accessed March 11, 2025 and represent data received as of March 10, 2025—indicating provisional updates were being used on that date, but the page does not contain a single downloadable table of 2025 provisional rates by age group in the excerpts provided [1].
3. Limits of the available reporting on “2025 by age group”
The search results include descriptions of provisional reporting systems and multiple NCHS briefs (final 2002–2022, provisional 2022, and data briefs on 2022–2023), but none of the supplied snippets shows a definitive list of provisional 2025 suicide rates broken down by standard age categories (for example, 10–14, 15–24, 25–34, etc.) [1] [6] [2]. Therefore, a definitive table of provisional 2025 rates by age group is not present in the current reporting provided (not found in current reporting). The CDC’s pages cited indicate provisional data exist on CDC WONDER and in rapid-release products, but those specific 2025 age-group numbers are not shown in the supplied results [1] [3].
4. How to obtain the provisional 2025 age-group rates the CDC uses
The CDC’s Suicide Data & Statistics site directs users to CDC WONDER and NCHS rapid-release products for provisional mortality data [1] [3]. To get provisional 2025 rates by age group, the authoritative route is to query CDC WONDER’s Provisional Mortality database or check the NCHS Vital Statistics Rapid Release series (the search results point to those resources but do not reproduce a 2025 age-breakdown table here) [1] [3]. The CDC’s data-access note on the suicide facts page confirms the data access date and source [1].
5. What recent analyses say about age-group patterns (context, not 2025 specifics)
Recent CDC and NCHS analyses in the supplied sources show that suicide patterns vary substantially by age: historically, older adults (e.g., 75+) have had some of the highest rates in certain years while adolescents and young adults hold high rankings for leading causes of death; NCHS reported shifts from 2002–2022 and published analyses comparing 2022 to 2023 that detail age-specific changes [2] [4]. The CDC blog and NCHS data brief highlighted notable changes in 2022–2023 (for example, changes in rates among ages 75+ and state-level shifts) but those findings are tied to finalized 2023 data or provisional 2022 data in the extracts provided [4] [5].
6. Competing viewpoints and caveats in interpretation
Public-health groups such as AFSP summarize CDC figures and emphasize that provisional quarterly rates exist but are sometimes omitted from advocacy summaries because they are preliminary; the AFSP page cited here notes preliminary quarterly mortality rates are available but may not be used for headline statistics [7]. That reflects a common tension: advocates and media want timely snapshots, while statisticians caution about misinterpreting provisional fluctuations before final data are released [7] [3].
7. Bottom line and recommended next steps
The sources you provided confirm provisional 2025 suicide data are being produced via CDC WONDER/NCHS (with data accessed March 11, 2025), but those search results do not contain a published table of provisional 2025 suicide rates by age group [1] [3]. To obtain the exact provisional 2025 rates by age group, query CDC WONDER’s Provisional Mortality dataset or check the NCHS Vital Statistics Rapid Release products directly; the CDC Suicide Data & Statistics page documents the provenance and access date for the provisional feed [1] [3].