Fentanyl. 2 mg (white powder to the right) is a lethal dose in most people.[1][2]US penny is 19 mm (0.75 in) wide.
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 and around 91,800 in 2020. Of every 100,000 people in 2020 in the US, drugs killed 28. 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.[3][4][5]
Around 110,800 people died in 2022. Around 112,100 people died in the 12-month period ending August 31, 2023, at a rate of 307 deaths per day. That is 34 deaths per 100,000 US residents, using the population at the midpoint of that period.[6][7]
The numbers at the source for the table below are continually updated. So the numbers in the table below may be slightly different.[3]
2021 was a turning point in US history with over 100,000 deaths.[9]
Rates below are per 100,000.
1968–2020 US drug overdose deaths. 1,106,859 total.[3]
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.[8]
US yearly overdose deaths, and the drugs involved.[8]
US yearly deaths involving prescription opioids. Non-methadone synthetics is a category dominated by illegally acquired fentanyl, and has been excluded.[8]
US overdose deaths involving heroin, by other opioid involvement.[8]
Timeline of US overdose deaths involving stimulants (cocaine and psychostimulants), by opioid involvement.[8]
The top line represents the yearly number of benzodiazepine deaths that involved opioids in the US. The bottom line represents benzodiazepine deaths that did not involve opioids.[8]
Drug overdose deaths involving antidepressants, by opioid involvement.[8]
Rate timeline by race and ethnicity
Timeline of US drug overdose death rates by race and ethnicity.[13] Rate per 100,000 population.
Rate timeline by sex
Timeline of US drug overdose death rates by sex,[14] Rate per 100,000 population.
Comparisons to other countries in Europe
There were around 68,700 drug overdose deaths in the United States in 2018. That is a rate of 210 deaths per million residents.[6][7] Compare that rate to the 2018 rates of the European countries in the first chart below.
Drug overdose death rates for European countries.[15][16]
Row numbers below are static. Other columns are sortable. This allows ranking of any column.
^ abcData 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.
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.html
^ abProducts - 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. If there are problems use a different browser.
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