US drug overdose deaths dropped to 5-year low in 2024, CDC data shows

(Reuters) -Drug overdose deaths in the United States fell nearly 27% in 2024, federal estimates showed on Wednesday, marking the steepest decline ever and reaching the lowest levels since 2019.

Nearly 80,391 people died from drug overdose in the U.S. in 2024, compared with 110,037 deaths a year earlier, according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates.

But drug overdose still remains the leading cause of death among Americans aged 18 to 44, according to the CDC.

Experts have pointed out that the wide availability of a medication called naloxone, a potent overdose antidote, has significantly contributed to the drop.

Deaths involving opioids fell to an estimated 54,743 in 2024 from 83,140 a year earlier, the CDC estimates showed.

The overdose deaths have steadily declined each month since late 2023, the agency said.

But those involved in the country's anti-narcotics fight have warned that recent funding cuts by the White House threaten to reverse the decline in overdose deaths and jeopardize other gains in the battle against synthetic opioids.

"The (funding) cuts are impacting our ability to do last mile delivery of services," said Nabarun Dasgupta, senior scientist, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The loss of specialized workers that have access to people who use drugs in their networks could create localized increases in overdose, said Dasgupta.

The number of deaths caused by synthetic opioids, including fentanyl, dropped nearly 37% to 48,422 in 2024 from a year earlier, the CDC said.

Fentanyl is still at the heart of the U.S. opioid crisis. It is the single largest contributor to overdose deaths in the country.

Dasgupta also warns against chemicals that are more potent and harder to detect, such as nitazenes, which are "waiting in the wings" to replace fentanyl.

While most states across the nation showed declines in overdose deaths, South Dakota and Nevada reported a slight increase compared to 2023, the report said.

(Reporting by Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Alan Barona)