United States drug overdose death rates and totals over time

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides data on drug overdose death rates and totals in the United States.

Around 70,000 people died in the 12-month period ending December 31, 2025, at a rate of 192 deaths per day. That is 20.5 deaths per 100,000 US residents, using the population at the midpoint of that period (341,784,857 on July 1, 2025).Population Clock. United States Census Bureau. Scroll down to "Select a date" and enter date for US resident population.

The peak was around 110,900 in 2022. The U.S. drug overdose death rate has gone from 2.5 per 100,000 people in 1968 to the peak rate of 33.2 per 100,000 in 2022.

From 1968 to 2020, approximately 1,106,900 U.S. residents died from drug overdoses, with the majorityaround 932,400of those deaths occurring between 1999 and 2020.

+ Recent years. Updated often. Crude rate per 100,000. July 1 population.Year Deaths Population Crude rate2025 70,000 341,785,000 20.52024 81,700 340,110,000 24.02023 108,600 336,810,000 32.22022 110,900 334,020,000 33.22021 109,100 332,100,000 32.92020 93,500 331,580,000 28.2

Of the roughly 110,700 drug overdose deaths in 2021 (the total at the time that these numbers were calculated), opioids were involved in about 80,400, or nearly 73%, of cases, with synthetic opioids other than methadone (primarily fentanyl) involved in around 70,600, or nearly 64%, of all deaths.Data is from these saved tables from CDC Wonder at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. The tables have totals, rates, and US populations per year. The numbers are continually updated: "This dataset has been updated since this request was saved, which could lead to differences in results." So the numbers in the table at the source may be slightly different. 1968-1978 data: Compressed Mortality File 1968-1978. CDC WONDER Online Database, compiled from Compressed Mortality File CMF 1968-1988, Series 20, No. 2A, 2000. Accessed at http://wonder.cdc.gov/cmf-icd8.html 1979-1998 data: Compressed Mortality File 1979-1998. CDC WONDER On-line Database, compiled from Compressed Mortality File CMF 1968-1988, Series 20, No. 2A, 2000 and CMF 1989-1998, Series 20, No. 2E, 2003. Accessed at http://wonder.cdc.gov/cmf-icd9.html 1999-2020 data: Multiple Cause of Death, 1999-2020 Results. CDC WONDER Online Database. Data are from the Multiple Cause of Death Files, 1999-2020, as compiled from data provided by the 57 vital statistics jurisdictions through the Vital Statistics Cooperative Program. Accessed at http://wonder.cdc.gov/mcd-icd10.htmlDrug Overdose Mortality | Stats of the States. Pick year from menu above map. From National Center for Health Statistics for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The numbers are in the data table below the map, and by running your cursor over the map at the source. CSV data link below table.Death Rate Maps & Graphs | Drug Overdose. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Click on a map year. The data table is below the map. Number of deaths for each state, and the age-adjusted rates of death for each state. Also, place cursor on map states to get data.

The CDC's "predicted value" is used for numbers for recent years in the above intro. CDC: "Predicted provisional counts represent estimates of the number of deaths adjusted for incomplete reporting (see Technical Notes)." And the above yearly numbers are updated regularly here as they change.Products - Vital Statistics Rapid Release - Provisional Drug Overdose Data. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Hover cursor over the end of the graph in Figure 1A to get the latest number. Scroll down the page and click on the dropdown data table called "Data Table for Figure 1a. 12 Month-ending Provisional Counts of Drug Overdose Deaths". The number used is the "predicted value" for the 12-month period that is ending at the end of that month. That number changes as more info comes in. See "Technical Notes". If there are problems use a different browser.US Population by Month. US resident population. Source: US Census Bureau. Population from the middle of the 12-month period is used to calculate the death rate. See WP:CALC.

1968–2022

The numbers at the CDC source for the table below are continually updated. So the numbers in the table below may be slightly different. 2021 was a turning point in US history with over 100,000 deaths.

Rates below are per 100,000. Population is for July 1 residents. Rate (by itself) is age adjusted. Total (at bottom) is 1,106,859 total deaths for 1968–2020.

+1968–2020 US drug overdose deaths. CDC. Year Deaths Population Crude rate Rate19685,033199,533,5642.52.819696,006201,568,2063.03.319707,101203,458,0353.53.819716,771206,782,9703.33.519726,622209,237,4113.23.419736,413211,361,9653.03.219746,449213,436,9583.03.219757,145215,457,1983.33.419766,765217,615,7883.13.219776,130219,808,6322.82.919785,506222,102,2792.52.619792,544224,635,3981.11.119802,492226,624,3711.11.119812,668229,487,5121.21.219822,862231,701,4251.21.219832,866233,781,7431.21.219843,266235,922,1421.41.319853,612238,005,7151.51.519864,187240,189,8821.71.719873,907242,395,0341.61.619884,865244,651,9612.02.019895,035247,001,7622.02.019904,506248,922,1111.81.819915,215253,088,0682.12.019925,951256,606,4632.32.319937,382260,024,6372.82.819947,828263,241,4753.03.019958,000266,386,5963.03.019968,431269,540,7793.13.119979,099272,776,6783.33.319989,838276,032,8483.63.6199916,849279,040,1686.06.1200017,415281,421,9066.26.2200119,394284,968,9556.86.8200223,518287,625,1938.28.2200325,785290,107,9338.98.9200427,424292,805,2989.49.4200529,813295,516,59910.110.1200634,425298,379,91211.511.5200736,010301,231,20712.011.9200836,450304,093,96612.011.9200937,004306,771,52912.111.9201038,329308,745,53812.412.3201141,340311,591,91713.313.2201241,502313,914,04013.213.1201343,982316,128,83913.913.8201447,055318,857,05614.814.7201552,404321,418,82016.316.3201663,632323,127,51319.719.8201770,237325,719,17821.621.7201867,367327,167,43420.620.7201970,630328,239,52321.521.6202091,799329,484,12327.928.3 Total1,106,859

Death rates by state and year

Asterisks (*) indicate Health in LOCATION or Healthcare in LOCATION links in table below. NSD: Not sufficient data. NR: Not reported, or not recorded.