US Army Suicide Rate Spike 15% to 580, Says Pentagon

Suicides among U.S. army personnel rose 15% in 2020 compared to the previous year, according to an annual report from the Pentagon released Thursday.

The new figures show that 580 U.S. service members died due to suicide last year, a nearly 80-person increase from the 504 who committed suicide in 2019.

The figure for 2020, however, is lower than the 543 U.S. troops who reportedly committed suicide in 2018.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called the new numbers "troubling," and said suicide prevention is "a paramount challenge" for the military.

"Suicide rates among our service members and military families are still too high, and the trends are not going in the right direction," Austin said in a statement Thursday.