How high is the suicide rate of trans people globally
Executive summary
Available studies and large surveys show transgender people report far higher rates of suicidal thoughts and attempts than the general population: recent community and national samples report past‑year ideation around 30% and past‑year attempts around 4.2% (Trans PULSE Canada) and lifetime attempt estimates in several U.S. surveys and reviews cluster between roughly 32% and 42% (Williams Institute; multiple reviews) [1] [2] [3]. Deaths by suicide among transgender people are far less frequently measured; a long Danish cohort found suicide deaths 3.5 times and attempts 7.7 times higher than the Danish population but absolute numbers were small (12 suicides, 92 attempts among 3,759 people over 1980–2021) [4] [3].
1. What the data actually measures: ideation, attempts, deaths
Researchers distinguish three different outcomes: suicidal ideation (thoughts), nonfatal suicide attempts, and suicide deaths. Many sources report ideation and attempts from surveys and clinic cohorts (for example, 30% past‑year ideation and 4.2% past‑year attempts in a Trans PULSE Canada sample) [1]. Deaths by suicide are far harder to measure for trans people because registries rarely capture gender identity; the Amsterdam and Danish cohorts infer elevated death rates from much smaller numbers [3] [4].
2. Magnitude: high and variable depending on method
Survey‑based lifetime estimates commonly cited range widely. Some national probability and clinic samples report lifetime attempt rates around 40% (for example, Williams Institute reporting “more than 40%” of U.S. transgender adults) [2]. Meta‑analyses and reviews report wide variability in ideation and attempt prevalence—from ideation reported in 37%–83% across studies and attempts ranging roughly 9.8% to 44% in different samples [3]. This variation reflects differences in sampling (clinic vs community vs population probability), age mixes, wording and timeframes, and geographic contexts [3] [2].
3. Deaths by suicide: rare but elevated in cohort studies
Large population‑level estimates of suicide deaths among transgender people are scarce. A Danish 40‑year study analysing 3,759 people who identified as transgender found 12 suicides and 92 attempts; authors estimated suicide death rates about 3.5 times higher and attempt rates about 7.7 times higher than the general population—but the absolute death counts were small and based on people recorded in healthcare or legal records, not the whole trans population [4]. The Amsterdam cohort similarly reports elevated mortality but emphasizes sparse data and wide uncertainty [3].
4. Drivers and context: social stress, access, and co‑occurring problems
Multiple sources link elevated suicidality to minority stress—discrimination, violence, family rejection, poverty, and barriers to gender‑affirming care—not to being transgender per se [5] [6]. Studies find younger trans people and nonbinary or transmasculine subgroups often show higher rates of ideation and attempts [1] [7]. Legislative environments and anti‑trans policies have been associated with increases in self‑reported attempts in some studies, though contested interpretations exist in the literature [8] [9].
5. Limits, sampling bias and interpretive pitfalls
All major reviews warn that estimates are affected by where researchers recruit participants: clinic samples oversample people seeking care (who may have more distress); convenience community surveys can attract those with lived experience of crisis; administrative cohorts capture only people who appear in health or legal systems [3] [4]. Death registries rarely record gender identity, so suicide death rates are estimated indirectly or from small cohorts [3]. Studies therefore report widely differing percentages and must be compared cautiously [3].
6. Competing findings and debates in public discussion
Some commentators highlight very high lifetime attempt figures (around 40%+) from U.S. surveys and use those to argue urgent policy responses; others point to smaller absolute death counts or clinic‑specific data and caution against overstating risk or implying inevitability [2] [3] [10]. Both perspectives rely on the same kinds of data but emphasize different outcomes (attempts vs deaths) and different implications for care and policy [2] [10].
7. What this means for policy and reporting
The consistent finding across sources is elevated suicidal thoughts and attempts among transgender people versus general populations, with younger and nonbinary subgroups often at greatest risk; suicide deaths appear elevated in some cohort studies but are measured imprecisely [1] [2] [4]. Policy responses supported by the literature emphasize reducing discrimination, improving family and clinical support, expanding access to gender‑affirming and mental health care, and improving data systems that record gender identity to measure outcomes more reliably [6] [5].
Limitations: available sources do not provide a single global suicide‑death rate for transgender people because data collection, definitions, and sample frames vary widely and registries rarely capture gender identity [3] [4].