NEW YORK — Preliminary government data shows that approximately 70,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in 2025, representing a 14% decrease compared to the previous year.
This marks the third consecutive annual drop in overdose deaths, making it the longest decline in decades, according to federal data released on Wednesday, May 21, 2025.
The 2025 total is roughly equivalent to the overdose death toll in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic began.
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