NCHS: 2023-2024 Drug Overdoses Decline

Data Source National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) on June 15, 2026

The National Center for Health Statistics recently provided their 2024 report on overdose deaths in the US showing that the national drug overdose death rate fell by more than a quarter between 2023 and 2024, the largest single-year decline in at least a decade. The data show broad improvement across age groups, racial and ethnic groups, and drug types, though some communities continue to bear a disproportionate share of the burden. The SR-DDRC prepared this update to highlight the main findings from this annual report for its stakeholders.

The age-adjusted drug overdose death rate fell 26.2% between 2023 and 2024, from 31.3 deaths per 100,000 people to 23.1, the largest single-year decline recorded across the past decade. In total, 79,384 drug overdose deaths occurred in 2024.

Graph source: Garnett, Matthew F., and Arialdi M. Miniño. January 2026. "Drug Overdose Deaths in the United States, 2023–2024." NCHS Data Brief, no. 549. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. Retrieved June 15, 2026, from https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db549.htm.

The declines were broad. Rates fell for all age groups, with the largest decreases among younger people. Those ages 15 to 24 saw a 37% drop. Rates also declined across all racial and ethnic groups, with the largest decrease, 30.9%, among Black non-Hispanic people. That said, American Indian and Alaska Native people continued to have the highest overdose death rate of any group, at 51.6 deaths per 100,000 in 2024.

On the drug side, deaths tied to synthetic opioids other than methadone, the category that includes fentanyl, fell 35.6%, from 22.2 to 14.3 deaths per 100,000. Deaths tied to cocaine dropped 26.7%, and those tied to psychostimulants such as methamphetamine declined 19.8%.

The numbers are genuinely good news, the NCHS reports, but a decline in deaths is not the same as a decline in risk. The drug supply remains unpredictable, new substances continue to surface, and the communities that carry the heaviest burden continue to feel the impact of this crisis. Progress at the national level does not automatically reach everyone, which is why local harm reduction work remains as important as ever.

For the full report, please visit the National Center for Health Statistics data brief at the following link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK621157/

References

Garnett, Matthew F., and Arialdi M. Miniño. January 2026. "Drug Overdose Deaths in the United States, 2023–2024." NCHS Data Brief, no. 549. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. Retrieved June 8, 2026, from https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db549.htm.