Asians have highest suicide rate among elderly women in the U.S.

July 1, 2014

Asian women have the highest suicide rate among elderly women in the U.S., according to a Census Bureau report Monday.

Between 2005 and 2010, the average rate of suicide among Asian American women over the age of 65 was 5.6 per 100,000 people. In comparison, white women in the same age group had an average of 4.5, Hispanic women 1.9 and black women 1.

Suicide rate among elderly men was markedly higher than that of women as of 2010, with white men over the age of 65 having an average of 32.4 suicides per 100,000 people. Hispanic men had an average of 15.4 and Asian men 13.5.

Compared to an average of 19.7 suicides per 100,000 for all elderly people in 1991, the rate has seen a drop for the age group to 14.9 in 2010.