Transgender suicide statistics 2025
Executive summary
Available research through 2025 shows transgender people face substantially elevated rates of suicidal ideation and attempts compared with the general population, with broad variation by age, setting and measurement: national probability data and large surveys report lifetime attempt rates around 40% and lifetime consideration rates as high as 81% in some samples, while recent community and cohort studies report past‑year ideation and attempt rates in the single digits to tens of percent depending on subgroup and method [1] [2] [3] [4]. Interpretation requires caution: studies differ in definition (ideation vs attempts vs deaths), sampling frames (clinic vs community vs probability samples), geography, and political context, and several sources explicitly warn of both overstatement and under‑measurement [5] [6].
1. National snapshots: lifetime and past‑year estimates
A national probability survey and related syntheses provide headline numbers often cited in reporting: the Williams Institute reported that more than 40% of transgender adults in the U.S. have attempted suicide in their lifetimes and that transgender adults are many times more likely than cisgender adults to contemplate or attempt suicide [1], while other aggregated reports and media summaries have cited lifetime consideration figures as high as 81% in some transgender samples [2]. For youth, The Trevor Project’s 2025 reporting and federal youth surveys show alarmingly high past‑year suicidal thoughts and attempts among transgender and nonbinary young people—examples include 45% of transgender and nonbinary youth in Florida seriously considering suicide in the past year in one state‑level breakdown and nationally representative school data noting about one in four transgender students reporting a past suicide attempt [7] [8].
2. Recent empirical nuance: past‑year rates and subgroup differences
Community‑based and cohort studies that examine past‑year experiences provide a more nuanced picture: a 2019 Trans PULSE Canada analysis reported roughly 30% past‑year suicidal ideation and 4.2% past‑year suicide attempts among certain TNB samples, with younger people and some high‑risk subgroups (for example, current or former sex workers) showing higher rates [3]. Longitudinal clinical cohorts such as the Amsterdam Gender Dysphoria study document wide variation in reported lifetime attempt prevalence (from about 9.8% to 44% across studies) and show that suicide death data are sparse and based on small samples, limiting firm conclusions about mortality trends [4].
3. Measurement problems and why headline numbers vary
Differences in sampling (clinic populations versus community or probability samples), question wording (lifetime vs past‑year ideation or attempts), and the rarity of suicide deaths in small cohorts produce very different estimates; systematic reviews emphasize that ideation rates generally exceed attempt rates and that suicide mortality is under‑measured in transgender research because of small samples and inconsistent identification [4] [6]. Media repetition of high lifetime figures without this methodological context risks creating misleading impressions about immediacy and causation; some commentators and organizations have challenged particular high‑profile papers and interpretations, arguing for more careful framing [5].
4. Risk drivers, protective factors, and contested policy claims
Research links elevated suicidality among transgender people to social stressors—harassment, unstable housing, discrimination and lack of support—while evidence suggests supportive families, community connectedness and access to gender‑affirming care are associated with lower suicidality in some studies [6] [1]. Policy debates are entangled with the science: peer‑reviewed work has reported increases in past‑year attempts in jurisdictions passing anti‑trans laws, and critics argue about effect sizes and causal inference, indicating clear political stakes in how data are used [7] [5].
5. What is missing and what to watch for in 2025 reporting
Important gaps persist: suicide death rates for transgender populations are poorly characterized, longitudinal data about the effects of medical care across the life course are limited and contested, and many studies rely on convenience samples or retrospective reports [4] [9] [6]. Readers should watch for more probability‑based national surveys, rigorous longitudinal cohorts that capture transitions and social context, and explicit reporting on measurement limitations; until then, reliable conclusions are constrained to clear statements that transgender people experience substantially higher suicidal ideation and attempts than the general population, with important variation by age, context and methodology [1] [3] [4].