The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has data on drug overdose death rates and totals. Around 1,106,900 US residents died from drug overdoses from 1968 to 2020. Around 932,400 from 1999 through 2020. Around 91,800 in 2020. 28 people out of every 100,000 died from drug overdoses in 2020 in the US. Opioids were involved in around 80,400 of the around 106,700 deaths in 2021. Synthetic opioids other than methadone (primarily fentanyl) were involved with 70,601 deaths in 2021.
Around 110,700 people died in 2022. Around 112,000 people died in the 12-month period ending May 31, 2023, at a rate of 307 deaths per day. That is 335 deaths per million US residents.
1968–2021 overdose death rates and totals
The numbers at the 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.
Overdose death rates by state. Map and timeline
Asterisks (*) indicate Health in STATE or Healthcare in STATE links in table below.
Overdose death counts by state over time
Overall US totals by year, followed by breakdown by state by year.
State links below are "Category:Health in STATE" links. See overall category.
Yearly overdose death totals by drug
Concerning the data in the charts below (in this section and the following sections) deaths from the various drugs add up to more than the yearly overdose death total because multiple drugs are involved in many of the deaths.
Opioid overdose death rates and totals. Many charts
Opioids were involved in around 80,400 of the around 106,700 deaths in 2021. See map higher up for states with the highest overdose death rates.
Overdose death rates by race and ethnicity. Timeline
Overdose death rates by sex. Timeline
Comparisons to other countries
There were around 68,700 drug overdose deaths in the United States in 2018. That is a rate of 210 deaths per million residents. Compare that rate to the 2018 rates of the countries in the first chart below.
Row numbers below are static. Other columns are sortable. This allows ranking of any column. Location links below are "Healthcare in LOCATION" links.
See also
List of deaths from drug overdose and intoxication
Adulterants
Alcohol intoxication
Diseases of despair
Drug interactions
Responsible drug use
References
Further reading
Opioid Overdose Deaths by Race/Ethnicity. Kaiser Family Foundation. Opioid Overdose Deaths by Type of Opioid. Kaiser Family Foundation.