Overdose deaths in the United States dropped dramatically between 2023 and 2024, with decreases that far surpass what was recorded for the previous 12-month period when the crisis first began to turn around. A January 29 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows deaths falling across all census demographics and all drug types, with particularly large decreases among young people, Black people and deaths involving fentanyl.
With the exception of a slight dip in 2018, fatal overdose had increased every year since the CDC began tracking the data in 1999, and risen dramatically with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Then, after recorded overdose deaths peaked at 107,941 in 2022, they decreased slightly to 105,007 deaths recorded in 2023.
In 2024, that number dropped to 79,384—a decrease of 26.2 percent, bringing the mortality rate from 31.3 deaths per 100,000 people down to 23.1. (Since 2024, preliminary data point to the decrease slowing down somewhat.)
Deaths among people aged 15-24 dropped 37 percent, with the mortality rate decreasing from 13.5 deaths per 100,000 people to 8.5. Though this was the age group with the fewest deaths in both 2023 and 2024, the 37-percent decrease was the largest change.
The smallest decrease was seen in people over age 65, with the mortality rate per 100,000 people dropping from 14.7 to 13.4. People aged 35-44 remain the most vulnerable to fatal overdose, with the mortality rate dropping from 60.8 in 2023 to 44.2 in 2024.
Deaths involving synthetic opioids other than methadone, the category that includes fentanyl, dropped 35.6 percent.
Deaths also decreased across all racial and ethnic groups represented in the data.
The largest decrease—30.9 percent—was among the census category of Black non-Hispanic people, with a mortality rate per 100,000 dropping from 48.9 in 2023 to 33.8 in 2024. Deaths remain lowest among Asian non-Hispanic people, with the mortality rate falling from 5.1 to 4.4. Death investigation data are frequently inaccurate, and the report notes that misclassification of race and Hispanic origin on death certificates is known to result in an undercount for some groups—notably a 34-percent undercount for American Indian and Alaska Native non-Hispanic people, who still had the highest mortality rates in 2023 (65.0) and 2024 (51.6).
Deaths involving synthetic opioids other than methadone, the category that includes fentanyl, dropped 35.6 percent. The death rate per 100,000 for this category fell from 22.2 in 2023 to 14.3 in 2024. This coincides with an apparent drop in fentanyl purity, though some of the theories surrounding this have been a bit of a reach. While fentanyl was associated with the largest decrease, deaths associated with every type of drug went down from 2023 to 2024.
The rate of deaths involving heroin decreased by 33.3 percent, from 1.2 to 0.8. The rate for methadone-involved deaths decreased 10 percent, from 1.0 to 0.9. With cocaine, it decreased 26.7 percent, from 8.6 to 6.3 deaths. For deaths involving “psychostimulants with abuse potential,” the category that includes methamphetamine, there was a 19.8-percent rate decrease from 10.6 to 8.5.
Shortly before releasing the new data brief on overdose deaths, the CDC separately released the final overall mortality data for 2024. That report shows that the US death rate has dropped across all demographics and by nearly 4 percent overall, while life expectancy has reached an all-time high. The average person born in 2024 is currently expected to live to age 79.
For the first time since 2020, COVID-19 is no longer in the 10 most common causes of death. The 10th leading cause of death is now suicide, with the rate per 100,000 people decreasing from 14.1 to 13.7.
Image via San Diego Office of Assessor, Recorder and County Clerk
