Unintentional Drug Overdose Death Rates Among US Youth Aged 15-19

December 13, 2023

Quarterly rates of unintentional drug overdose deaths among teens 15-19 remained elevated well into 2022, according to a NIDA analysis of CDC and Census data. Similar data had previously been reported by CDC and others through Q4 2021, and this NIDA analysis provides an update on trends through Q3 2022 overall and by sex. These data emphasize that teen overdose continues to be an issue that needs to be addressed, and shed some light on the post-pandemic state of teen overdose.

Data sources: National Vital Statistics System’s multiple-cause-of-death 2019-2021 final and 2022-2023 provisional data and the U.S. census monthly data. *: Joinpoints identified indicate significant changes in nonlinear trends using Bayesian Information Criterion. AQPC=average quarter percentage change during 2019 Q1-2023 Q1.

Graph: Unintentional Drug Overdose Death Rates Among US Youth Aged 15-19

Quarterly rates of unintentional drug overdose deaths among teens 15-19 remained elevated well into 2022, according to a NIDA analysis of CDC and Census data.

Time	Death Rate per 100,000 Population Over Time
Time	Overall	Boys	Girls
2015 Q1	0.66	0.93	0.38
2015 Q2	0.71	1.02	0.39
2015 Q3	0.86	1.12	0.59
2015 Q4	0.71	0.88	0.53
2016 Q1	0.88	1.19	0.55
2016 Q2	0.83	1.20	0.45
2016 Q3	0.83	1.15	0.49
2016 Q4	0.84	1.12	0.54
2017 Q1	0.83	1.15	0.50
2017 Q2	0.68	0.92	0.43
2017 Q3	0.76	1.07	0.44
2017 Q4	0.71	0.95	0.46
2018 Q1	0.70	0.88	0.51
2018 Q2	0.77	1.05	0.47
2018 Q3	0.75	0.92	0.57
2018 Q4	0.62	0.84	0.39
2019 Q1	0.62	0.83	0.41
2019 Q2	0.74	0.99	0.48
2019 Q3	0.77	1.04	0.49
2019 Q4	0.89	1.30	0.47
2020 Q1	1.32	1.84	0.77
2020 Q2	1.85	2.63	1.03
2020 Q3	1.59	2.24	0.90
2020 Q4	1.65	2.38	0.90
2021 Q1	1.75	2.46	1.00
2021 Q2	2.01	2.70	1.29
2021 Q3	1.75	2.43	1.04
2021 Q4	1.44	1.94	0.93
2022 Q1	1.54	1.94	1.13
2022 Q2	1.57	2.20	0.91
2022 Q3	1.63	2.16	1.06