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How many Americans have died due to fentanyl?

Based on the provided sources, the number of Americans who have died from fentanyl has risen dramatically over the last decade.

According to the most recent provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an estimated 76,226 people in the United States died from overdoses involving synthetic opioids (primarily fentanyl) in 2023 [11]. The final number for 2022 was 74,702 [11].

Official statistics often categorize these deaths as involving “synthetic opioids other than methadone,” which includes fentanyl, fentanyl analogs, and tramadol [2, 11]. Fentanyl and its related substances are the primary driver of deaths within this category [2, 12].

The number of fentanyl-related deaths has increased sharply over time:

This trend highlights a more than 20-fold increase in annual deaths from synthetic opioids like fentanyl between 2013 and 2023 [1, 11].

Sources

  1. USAFacts. This source provides annual data on overdose deaths involving fentanyl from 2013 to provisional 2023 figures, illustrating the steep increase in fatalities. https://usafacts.org/articles/are-fentanyl-overdose-deaths-rising-in-the-us/
  2. Public Health Reports. This report explains the CDC’s methodology for counting overdose deaths and confirms that the category “synthetic opioids other than methadone” is a valid proxy for fentanyl-involved deaths. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10467501/
  3. NCHS Data Brief No. 81 / CDC. This brief details drug poisoning deaths from 1980–2008, predating the widespread rise of fentanyl-related fatalities. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db81.pdf
  4. Drug Enforcement Administration. This 2015 press release serves as a historical marker, identifying fentanyl as an emerging threat to public health and safety. https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/2015/03/18/dea-issues-nationwide-alert-fentanyl-threat-health-and-public-safety
  5. NCHS Data Brief No. 329 / CDC. This brief provides overdose death statistics from 1999–2017, reporting 28,466 deaths involving synthetic opioids other than methadone for 2017. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db329-h.pdf
  6. MMWR / CDC. This report analyzes trends between 2013 and 2019, noting that deaths involving synthetic opioids rose to 36,359 in 2019. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7006a4.htm
  7. MMWR / CDC. This report offers specific data for 2015 and 2016, showing that deaths involving synthetic opioids more than doubled from 9,580 to 19,413 in a single year. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/67/wr/mm6712a1.htm
  8. NCHS Data Brief No. 356 / CDC. This report updates overdose death data through 2018, citing 31,335 deaths involving synthetic opioids for that year. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db356-h.pdf
  9. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This page describes the federal government’s overdose prevention strategy but does not contain specific mortality statistics. https://www.hhs.gov/overdose-prevention/
  10. Wikipedia. This article aggregates and charts U.S. drug overdose death data from various sources, primarily the CDC. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_drug_overdose_death_rates_and_totals_over_time
  11. NCHS Data Brief No. 522 / CDC. This brief provides the most recent official statistics, with final numbers for 2022 (74,702 deaths) and provisional numbers for 2023 (76,226 deaths) involving synthetic opioids. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db522.htm
  12. National Institute on Drug Abuse. This agency presents overdose death statistics and clarifies that the vast majority of deaths involving synthetic opioids other than methadone are caused by fentanyl. https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/trends-statistics/overdose-death-rates