U.S. Overdose Deaths Remain Higher Than in Other Countries — Trend-Tracking and Harm-Reduction Policies Could Help
U.S. Overdose Deaths Remain Higher Than in Other Countries — Trend-Tracking and Harm-Reduction Policies Could Help
Provisional data show that drug overdoses in the United States claimed more than 100,000 lives for a third consecutive year in 2023 — a more than 50 percent jump since 2019. By a substantial margin, the U.S. has the highest rate of overdose deaths in the world, followed by Puerto Rico — a U.S. territory. And while Scotland and Canada, the second- and third-ranked countries, saw decreases from 2021 to 2022, rates in the U.S. have remained high. Our analysis, using the latest mortality data from 2022, compares the U.S. overdose rate — 324 deaths per 1 million people, or almost 108,000 deaths in 2022 — to dozens of countries from across the globe and finds that the U.S. unequivocally has the highest rate of overdose deaths in the world. (The Commonwealth Fund, UK, 09.01.2025)
https://www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2025/us-overdose-deaths-remain-higher-other-countries-trend-tracking-and-harm-reduction