The three most frequent causes of injury death are also among the top 20 causes of all deaths in the United States in 2024. Preventable/accidental injuries ranked 3rd, intentional self-harm (suicide) ranked 10th, and assault (homicide) ranked 16th.
In 2024, suicides peaked among people in their 20s and stayed high into their 50s, while assault deaths peaked among people in their late teens then quickly dropped starting in their 30s. In contrast, preventable/accidental death is persistently high across most age groups. Preventable/accidental deaths can be largely attributed to three main causes across a person’s lifetime: motor vehicle-related deaths among young adults, opioid misuse among adults in mid-life, and fall deaths among older adults.
Both accidental deaths and suicides have been increasing rapidly over the last decades. However, suicide deaths have now decreased for three consecutive years but remain above 2019 levels. Preventable/accidental deaths have declined for two consecutive years, but also remain above 2019 levels. Similarly, assault deaths have decreased three consecutive years, but remain above 2019 levels.
2023 nonfatal data are the most current data available. Nonfatal injury trends are very different from fatal injury trends. While preventable injuries are far more common than either assault or self-harm nonfatal injuries, assault injuries outnumber self-harm injuries. In 2023, 25,424,384 people were treated in an emergency department for preventable injuries. Treatment for assault-related injuries numbered 1,609,672, over three times those treated for self-harm (496,966).
Nonfatal preventable injuries peak among children between 1- and 2-years-old, and again among 20- and 30-year-olds, before they gradually decline throughout life. Assault-related nonfatal injuries peak among 20- and 30-year-olds, then decline steadily. Self-harm nonfatal injuries peak among teenagers, drop rapidly until about age 30, and then plateau until age 50, at which time they decrease again.
Use the interactive chart to explore other trends by injury intent, sex, and age.
- Chart
- Data Table
