Annual Surveillance Report of Drug-Related Risks and Outcomes \u2013 United States, 2019

Over 700,000 people died in the United States from drug overdoses between 1999 and 2017, with 70,237 deaths in 2017 alone.1 Of these 70,237 deaths, 67.8% involved an opioid.1 The age-adjusted drug overdose death rate has significantly increased from 6.0 (1999) to 21.7 (2017) deaths per 100,000 population. However, as of September 2019, provisional mortality estimates through February 2019 suggest slight decreases in drug overdose deaths since 2017 in the United States.2019709