U.S. Overdose Deaths Decreased in 2023 for the first time since 2018

Oct 18, 2024

U.S. Overdose Deaths Decrease in 2023, First Time Since 2018

According to the results of a recent report released by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), there were an estimated 107,543 drug overdose deaths in the United States in 2023. This corresponds to a decrease of 3% from the 111,029 deaths recorded in 2022, and is the first recorded annual decrease in drug overdose deaths since 2018.

The data also shows that in 2023, the number of overdose deaths involving opioids decreased to 81,083 from approximately 84,181 in 2022. Moreover, although the number of deaths from synthetic opioids (such as fentanyl) decreased in 2023 compared to 2022, the number of deaths due to cocaine and psychostimulants such as methamphetamine increased.

In his interview with NPR News, Dr. Nabarun Dasgupta, an expert on street drugs at the University of North Carolina, said that the data collected by the CDC will show an even larger decrease in overdose-related drug deaths when federal surveys are updated to reflect improvements being seen at the state level, specifically in the eastern U.S.

“In the states that have the most rapid data collection systems, we’re seeing declines of twenty percent, thirty percent,” said Dr. Dasgupta. According to his analysis, the decrease in state-level mortality numbers also corresponds to similar steep declines in emergency room visits linked to overdoses.

According to an analysis carried out by NPR News, the decline in drug overdose-related may be due to improvements in the availability and affordability of medical treatments for fentanyl addiction.

“This year overdose deaths [in Ohio] are down 31 percent,” said Dennis Couchon, a harm reduction activist of the organization Harm Reduction Ohio, in his interview with NPR. “The deaths were just plummeting. The data has never moved like this.”

“While the mortality data for 2024 is incomplete and subject to change, Ohio is now in the ninth consecutive month of a historic and unexpected drop in overdose deaths,” reads the statement released by Harm Reduction Ohio.