Suicides in the U.S. military increased in 2023, continuing a long-term trend that the Pentagon has struggled to abate.

Defense Department Suicide Prevention Office staff said the DoD is making unprecedented investments in suicide prevention in an effort to reduce the deaths.

The number of suicides among military personnel increased again in 2023, according to the Defense Department’s annual report on suicide released Thursday.

Suicide rates in the military increased in 2023, a slight uptick from 2022 that adds to a larger, troubling rise over the past decade. The annual report shows 523 service members died by suicide

Pentagon officials downplayed the significance of the 6% rise in suicides from 2022 to 2023 (the latest data available), calling the rise not statistically significant. But they acknowledged “an increasing long-term trend in suicide rates” for active-duty troops despite years of focus on prevention efforts.

The Pentagon expects to spend about $250 million on suicide prevention in 2025, the largest amount of funds the Defense Department has ever invested.

The Department of Defense has released the 2023 DoD Annual Report on Suicide in the Military (ARSM), which shows that suicides rose from 493 in 2022 to 523 in 2023.

Suicides in the U.S. military increased in 2023, continuing a long-term trend that the Pentagon has struggled to abate, according to a Defense Department report released on Thursday.