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Opioid statistics, 2025

Facts and figures that illustrate the impact of opioid misuse
Vanessa Ling headshot
By | Jun. 24, 2025 Medically reviewed by Leslie Greenberg, MD

Key takeaways

  • Opioids are a class of drugs that block the sensation of pain. They’re safe when used as directed but dangerous when misused.

  • About half of the people who take opioids long-term meet the criteria for an opioid use disorder (OUD) diagnosis.

  • There are ways to treat OUD, and it’s more affordable to treat it than not to receive treatment at all.  

In this article:

Opioids are a group of drugs that include hydrocodone, codeine, heroin, and fentanyl. These drugs are prescribed to treat pain, but some are found as illegal street drugs. Opioids have the potential to be addictive, and misuse can have serious consequences. Read on for what you should know about opioids, including what they’re used for, why they’re so dangerous, and their impact in numbers.

What are opioids?

Opioids are a class of drugs that work on opioid receptors in the body to block the sensation of pain. They fall into three main categories: natural, semi-synthetic, and synthetic opioids. 

Natural opioids are made from the poppy plant and include opium, codeine, and morphine. Semi-synthetic opioids are scientifically modified versions of these naturally occurring compounds. Examples include heroin, oxycodone, and hydrocodone. Synthetic opioids such as fentanyl are entirely made in laboratories without their ingredients found in nature.

Prescription opioids are available as oral pills, liquids, and skin patches. Injectables are typically reserved for medical settings, often used during anesthesia or pain relief after a procedure. 

Illegal opioids are opioid drugs that are diverted (used by anyone they weren’t prescribed for), misused (taken for non-medical reasons or the dose of medication is more than the provider intended), or made illegally. They can come as pills, powders, or liquids, and can also be mixed with other drugs, raising the risk of overdose. 

What are opioids used for?

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved certain opioids for:

  • Relief of mild to moderate severe pain (e.g., codeine)
  • Management of severe pain, when other treatments aren’t working (e.g., Percocet (oxycodone-acetaminophen))
  • Relief of cough, along with other medications such as homatropine (e.g., Hycodan (hydrocodone-homatropine)) 
  • Control and relief of short-term, nonspecific diarrhea (e.g., Imodium (loperamide))
  • Treatment of opioid addiction (e.g., buprenorphine)

Injectable opioids are approved for:

  • Pain relief  during or soon after surgery or during labor (e.g., Demerol (meperidine hydrochloride), fentanyl)
  • Managing severe pain after other options are insufficient (e.g., Dilaudid (hydromorphone hydrochloride))

Why are opioids so dangerous?

Opioid drugs are dangerous because of their high potential for both addiction and overdose. All opioid medications carry an FDA boxed warning (the strongest warning) for risks of dependence (addiction), misuse, and abuse. These risks are present even when opioids are taken as prescribed, at any dose, and for any length of time. 

Sylvie Stacy, MD, addiction medicine specialist and Chief Medical Officer at Rehab.com, shares how addictive opioids can be: “I’ve treated patients who were first prescribed an opioid after a dental procedure or injury and didn’t realize how quickly their bodies and brains would develop a dependence. Over time, the same dose stops working as well, so people start taking more or turn to street opioids. This is when the risk of overdose increases drastically.”

Opioid use disorder (OUD) is the term for opioid addiction. This is a complex illness with compulsive use of opioid drugs even when the person wants to stop, or when using the drugs causes negative physical, social, or emotional well-being. They may have an uncontrollable drive to get and take opioids, and stopping can cause severe withdrawal symptoms.  

“Opioids slow your breathing. Taking too much can cause you to stop breathing entirely,” Dr. Stacy says. An opioid overdose can slow or stop breathing and heart function. In severe cases, opioid overdose can lead to death from respiratory or cardiac arrest. These causes are often a silent death, as the person seems to fall asleep and then does not wake. “That’s especially true with fentanyl and other potent opioids on the street. It might not take much to overdose,” she shares. 

The risk of overdose is especially high with illegal opioids, which can be mixed with other substances. People may not know what they’re taking or how strong it is, making each individual’s use potentially life-threatening. Dr. Stacy explains: “As opposed to pharmacy opioids, street opioids are made in clandestine labs with no quality control, so the amount of active drug can vary a ton. You might think you’re taking one thing but get a much higher dose or a completely different substance. That’s why the overdose risk is so much higher with street opioids. Street opioids are unpredictable,” she warns.

Opioid-related deaths have been driven by waves corresponding to different opioid drugs. The first wave of opioid overdose deaths started in the 1990s due to the rise in prescriptions of commonly prescribed opioids such as codeine, oxycodone, and methadone. There was a rise in heroin-related deaths in the 2010s. Starting in 2013, overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids such as fentanyl and illegally manufactured fentanyl (IMF) started increasing.  

Opioid prescription statistics

  • There were about 38 opioid prescriptions given per 100 people in the United States in 2023. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2024) 
  • The state with the highest opioid dispensing rate in 2023 was Arkansas, with about 72 opioid prescriptions given per 100 people. The state with the lowest opioid dispensing rate was Hawaii, with about 23 opioid prescriptions given per 100 people. (CDC, 2024) 
  • There were more than 125 million opioid prescriptions given to Americans in 2023, a number that’s slowly been decreasing since 2019. (CDC, 2024)
  • In 2019, 22% of U.S. adults with chronic pain used a prescription opioid in the last three months. (National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) National Health Statistics Reports, 2021)
  • In 2019, adults between 45 and 64 years old with chronic pain were more likely to have used prescription opioids (26%) compared to younger adults between 18 and 29 (12%) and older adults 65 and older (22%). (NCHS National Health Statistics Reports, 2021)
  • In 2019, women with chronic pain were more likely (24%) to have used a prescription opioid in the last three months than men with chronic pain (19%). (NCHS National Health Statistics Reports, 2021)

Opioid epidemic statistics

  • About 3 million Americans and more than 16 million people globally struggle with OUD. (StatPearls, 2024)
  • As many as 50% of people prescribed opioids long-term meet the criteria for an OUD diagnosis. (StatPearls, 2024)
  • It’s estimated that 3%–12% of people treated with opioids for chronic pain will develop an opioid addiction. (American Psychiatric Association, 2025)
  • Men are more likely to use and become dependent on opioids, but women are prescribed opioids more often than men. (StatPearls, 2024)
  • In 2021, about 1 in 3 people with OUD received treatment, and even fewer, 1 in 5, received medication therapy. (JAMA Network Open, 2023)
  • In 2022, 1 in 4 people who needed OUD treatment received medication therapy. (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 2024)
  • One study found that women, Black adults, unemployed people, and people living in suburban or rural areas were less likely to receive medication therapy for OUD. (JAMA Network Open, 2023)

Opioid overdose statistics

  • Almost 727,000 people died from an opioid overdose between 1999 and 2022. (CDC, 2024)
  • In 2023, about 79,000 people died from an opioid-related drug overdose. That’s about 217 people on average every day. (CDC, 2024)
  • Compared to over 20 years ago in 1999, there were 10 times as many opioid-related deaths in 2022. (CDC, 2024)
  • Opioids have killed more people than any other drug in history. (StatPearls, 2024)
  • Opioid overdose deaths made up 76% of all drug overdose deaths in 2022. (CDC, 2024)
  • In 2023, overdose deaths from synthetic opioids such as fentanyl made up 92% of all opioid-related overdose deaths. (CDC, 2024)
  • Between 2020 and 2021, there were two to three times more males than females who died from an opioid-related overdose. (Neuropsychopharmacology, 2023)
  • Drug-related overdoses were highest for adults between 35 and 44 years old, almost 22,000 in 2022. (KFF, 2024)
  • Between 2022 and 2023, the rates of opioid overdose deaths due to synthetic opioids, natural and semisynthetic opioids, and heroin all decreased by 2%, 17%, and 33%, respectively. (CDC, 2024)

The cost of opioid misuse

  • The Joint Economic Committee (JEC) estimated that the cost of the opioid epidemic was $1.5 trillion, up 37% from three years earlier in 2017. (JEC, 2022).
  • The estimated cost of OUD in the United States was $471 billion, and the cost of fatal opioid overdoses was $550 billion in 2017. (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 2021)
  • Based on employer-sponsored health insurance data, individuals with OUD paid almost $12,000 in medical bills in 2018. This cost included hospital visits, healthcare provider visits, and medication. (JAMA Network Open, 2023)
  • Getting treatment for OUD is less expensive than not receiving OUD treatment. People receiving buprenorphine treatment spent about $14,000 in healthcare costs, while those who did not have any substance use disorder treatment spent about $31,000 in healthcare costs. (Addiction Science & Clinical Practice, 2014)

Preventing opioid misuse

Preventing opioid misuse is a collective effort from individuals, healthcare systems, and government policy. Chad Elkin, MD, an addiction medicine specialist and founder and president of National Addiction Specialists, says that the best prevention of opioid misuse starts with education and responsible prescribing. “Patients should always follow dosing instructions, avoid sharing medications, and properly dispose of unused pills. For those with a history of substance use or mental health issues, healthcare providers should consider alternative pain management strategies and closely monitor opioid use.” 

National and global public health organizations are actively researching and recommending policies to prevent opioid misuse. Here are a few ways that some organizations have laid the foundations for preventing opioid misuse:

  • The World Health Organization (WHO) has assembled a global guideline development group to convene in October 2025. The group will update the WHO’s guidelines on OUD treatment and overdose management. 
  • In the United States, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the CDC actively research trends and publish strategies to mitigate the opioid epidemic. These groups have webpages that serve as public health resources to individuals, state governments, and healthcare providers.
  • The U.S. government has passed laws like the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) in 2016, the 21st Century Cures Act in 2016, and the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment (SUPPORT) for Patients and Communities Act in 2018 to control the supply of opioids and reduce the harm of OUD. These laws established millions of dollars in grants to support OUD prevention, treatment, and recovery.

Opioid overdose symptoms

“An opioid overdose may look like someone is just sleeping,” Dr. Elkin says, but there are other signs that could point to an overdose. Symptoms of an opioid overdose include: 

  • Unconsciousness or unresponsiveness
  • Slow, shallow breathing or difficulty breathing
  • Pale, blue, or purple lips or nails
  • Small pupils that don’t react to light 

How to treat an opioid overdose

There are ways to treat an opioid overdose effectively, and anyone can save a life. Naloxone (Narcan, Kloxxado, Zimhi, ReVive) and nalmefene (Opvee) are opioid overdose reversal medications. “Anyone who uses opioids or is around someone who does should have access to naloxone and know how to use it,” Dr. Elkin says. Anyone can get naloxone, and anyone can administer it. It’s available in all 50 states and over the counter, and you could get it for free from community-based health programs. 

Here are a few simple steps to follow when someone is experiencing an opioid overdose, according to the CDC:

  1. Administer an opioid overdose reversal medication like naloxone. Do not spray the nasal spray into the air first to test it. Spray the naloxone nasal spray into the person’s nose.
  2. Call 911.
  3. Check the person’s breathing, and try to keep the person awake and breathing.
  4. Lay the person down on their side to prevent them from choking on their vomit.
  5. You may have to give a second dose of naloxone if the person’s not breathing normally within two to three minutes.
  6. Stay with the person until emergency medical services arrive.

If you or someone you know is struggling with opioid addiction or OUD, there are resources to help. For medical emergencies, call 911. For mental health crises, call or text 988. You can also talk to your healthcare provider or call the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA’s) National Helpline at 800-662-HELP (4537) for resources, treatment, and support. 

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