January 27, 2025

Overdose deaths in the U.S. declined by roughly 22%, from 114,664 to 86,678 between August 2023 to August 2024. According to the data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), this is a 22% decrease over the prior year. The decline is a notable change in overdose trends that have been rising in the US for three decades.

According to currently available data, states that saw the largest rates of decrease were North Carolina (-50%), Virginia (-32%), and Delaware (-31%). While five states saw increases in overdose deaths, Alaska saw the highest increase by far, at 32%. Other states with increases included Nevada (12%), Utah (7%), South Dakota (6%), and Montana (1%).

These findings were presented in “Chart: 12 Month-ending Provisional Number and Percent Change of Drug Overdose Deaths,” by the CDC. Provisional drug overdose death counts are based on death records received and processed by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), and the timeliness of provisional mortality surveillance data in the National Vital Statistics System (NVSS) database varies by cause of death.

A link to the full text of “Chart: 12 Month-ending Provisional Number and Percent Change of Drug Overdose Deaths” is in the OPEN MINDS Circle Library at https://openminds.com/market-intelligence/resources/011525drugoverdosedeath/.