WEDNESDAY, June 10, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. overdose death rate decreased between 2023 and 2024, according to a study published online June 2 in Addiction.
Joseph R. Friedman, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., from the University of California, San Diego, and colleagues characterized overdose death rates in the United States between 2023 and 2024 by race/ethnicity and substance involvement using national records.
The researchers found that the U.S. overdose death rate decreased 24.4 percent between 2023 and 2024 after many years of increases. Decreases reflected a decline in illicit fentanyl-involved deaths, with and without involvement of stimulants. In 2024, for the first time, there was a decline in the fourth wave of the U.S. overdose crisis, defined by deaths involving fentanyl together with stimulants. Deaths involving stimulants without fentanyl and deaths involving xylazine continued to represent an increasing proportion of overdose fatalities, despite overall decreases. The largest decline in death rates in 2023 to 2024 was seen for non-Hispanic Black and African Americans, decreasing by 29.3 percent but remaining elevated at 36.0 per 100,000 (1.51 times higher than the national average of 23.7 per 100,000). In 2024, the highest overdose death rates were seen for non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Native individuals, at 50.8 per 100,000; they experienced a below-average relative decrease of 20.1 percent.
"The next phase of the response needs to focus not only on lowering overall deaths, but on making sure those gains reach the populations that have been hit hardest," Friedman said in a statement.
