"U.S. overdose deaths fell through most of last year, suggesting a lasting improvement in an epidemic that had been worsening for decades. Federal data released Wednesday showed that overdose deaths have been falling for more than two years - the longest drop in decades - but also that the decline was slowing. And the monthly death toll is still not back to what it was before the COVID-19 pandemic, let alone where it was before the current overdose epidemic struck decades ago, said Brandon Marshall, a Brown University researcher who studies overdose trends."
"Overdose deaths began steadily climbing in the 1990s with overdoses involving opioid painkillers, followed by waves of deaths from heroin and - more recently - illicit fentanyl. Deaths peaked nearly 110,000 in 2022, fell a little in 2023 and then plummeted 27% in 2024, to around 80,000. That was the largest one-year decline ever recorded. The new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data runs through August 2025 and represents the first update of monthly provisional drug overdose deaths since the federal government shutdown."
Overdose deaths in the United States have fallen for more than two years, producing the longest sustained decline in decades. Deaths peaked near 110,000 in 2022, eased slightly in 2023, plunged 27% in 2024 to about 80,000, and an estimated 73,000 people died in the 12 months ending August 2025, a roughly 21% decrease from the prior year. Deaths were down in 45 states, with increases reported in Arizona, Hawaii, Kansas, New Mexico and North Dakota, though reporting remains provisional and may change. Experts cite wider naloxone access, expanded addiction treatment, shifts in drug use patterns, and other contributing factors.
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