The record-high 20 percent suicide rate among U.S. residents aged 45 to 54 has been reached between 1999 and 2004, ABC News said, quoting the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
So far, the highest rate was in 1994 rate, when for every 100,000 people in the 45 to 54 age group, there are a total of 16.6 completed suicides recorded, the report said.
In 1982, there was a 16.5 rate, reported to be the previous high.
Mark Kaplan, a suicide researcher at Portland State University, opines that the middle-aged "are often overlooked. These statistics should serve as a wake-up call," Kaplan added.
The CDC report showed suicide rate is highest among those aged 40s and 50s and those 85 and older, ABC News said.
Highest incidence of suicide among females occurs during their middle age.
CDC epidemiologist Dr. Alex Croby said male suicide rates peak after retirement.
The study looked at death certificate information from 1999 to 2004 and discovered a 5.5 percent hike during the period due to deaths from homicides, suicides, traffic collisions, and other injury incidents, ABC News reported.
A suicide rate of 1 percent increase, mostly deaths from injuries, was reported among people in their 20s, added ABC News.
In Japan, suicide toll decreased 1.2 percent to 32,155, ABC News, quoting National Police Agency, reported in July 2007.
The number, however, is higher than the 30,000 total number of suicide incidents recorded in 2006.
Japan records one of the highest suicide rates among the industrialized world.
Japan's parliament last June enacted a law that would decrease the suicide statistics by improving mental health support services, ABC News had reported.
