The military had an active-duty suicide rate of about 28 suicide deaths for every 100,000 service members in 2023, a 12% increase from 2022, according to a Pentagon report released Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (Joshua Seybert/U.S. Air Force photo)

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

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. The increase is a bit of a setback after the deaths dipped slightly the previous year.

After an overall increase in military suicides, Army suicides are down. It is linked to a focus on safe storage of guns and drugs, and an effort to limit stress.

The Pentagon's Annual Report on Suicide in the Military found that 523 service members died by suicide in 2023, an increase from 493 during the previous year. The Total Force suicide rate was 9% higher than in 2022.

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 in 2023,

Military suicides increased again in 2023, continuing a steady and concerning rise in self-inflicted deaths among servicemembers over more than a decade, according to statistics released by the Defense Department on Thursday.