By Reid Wilson, Pluribus News
Key Points:
- US drug overdose deaths fall nearly 14% in 2025
- Majority of states see decline in overdose deaths, but not Arizona
- Psychostimulants, including meth, caused about 26,000 deaths last year
Just under 70,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in 2025, a nearly 14% decline over the prior 12-month period and the third consecutive year in which drug deaths declined.
New data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show drug overdose deaths fell in the vast majority of the nation. The number of overdose victims fell by nearly 30% in New York, by 35% in Rhode Island, and by more than 20% in Oregon, Wyoming, Alabama, North Carolina, Vermont and Florida.
The number of overdose deaths rose in seven states, primarily in the Plains and the Southwest. Deaths rose by 21% in New Mexico, and by 18% in Arizona, the two states that showed the highest growth.
Opioids continue to kill more Americans than any other class of drug. But after peaking during the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of Americans who succumb to opioid overdoses has fallen by nearly half. In 2023, nearly 85,000 Americans died of opioid overdoses, and another 77,000 died from synthetic opioids.
