Health
Drug overdose death rate by president
Drug overdose deaths per 100,000 people, age-adjusted. Two CDC datasets joined at 2018, where both report the same value. Final data starts in 1999. Points after the last final year are provisional rolling 12-month rates from the CDC's quarterly estimates, shown dashed.
20.8 per 100k latest, 12 mo. to Jun 2025 (provisional)
Source: CDC National Center for Health Statistics, via data.cdc.gov. Annual data, fetched Oct 19, 2026.
Since 1999, the drug overdose death rate ranged from 6.1 per 100k in 1999 under Bill Clinton to 32.6 per 100k in 2022 under Joe Biden. Of the 4 completed terms with data, the drug overdose death rate rose fastest under Donald Trump (1st term), at +2.13 per 100k/yr against +1.68 per 100k/yr in the four years before, and fell fastest under Joe Biden, at −1.30 per 100k/yr against +2.13 per 100k/yr in the four years before. So far under Donald Trump (2nd term), it has gone from 23.1 per 100k in 2024 to 20.8 per 100k in 12 mo. to Jun 2025.
By presidential term
Drug overdose death rate, term by term: every term lined up from inauguration on one chart.
Value at the last full period before inauguration and at the end of the term, with the yearly rate of change. The second column is the rate of change over the four years before the term: the trend they inherited. Remember the lag: a term's first year mostly reflects the previous one's policies.
| President | During term | 4 years before |
|---|---|---|
| Donald Trump (2nd term) 2025–now | 23.1 per 100k → 20.8 per 100k −4.62 per 100k/yr · through Jun 2025 | −1.30 per 100k/yr |
| Joe Biden 2021–2025 | 28.3 per 100k → 23.1 per 100k −1.30 per 100k/yr | +2.13 per 100k/yr |
| Donald Trump (1st term) 2017–2021 | 19.8 per 100k → 28.3 per 100k +2.13 per 100k/yr | +1.68 per 100k/yr |
| Barack Obama 2009–2017 | 11.9 per 100k → 19.8 per 100k +0.99 per 100k/yr | +0.63 per 100k/yr |
| George W. Bush 2001–2009 | 6.2 per 100k → 11.9 per 100k +0.71 per 100k/yr | — |
| Bill Clinton 1993–2001 | no data | no data |
| George H. W. Bush 1989–1993 | no data | no data |
| Ronald Reagan 1981–1989 | no data | no data |
| Jimmy Carter 1977–1981 | no data | no data |
More health indicators
Events that bear on this indicator
- Mar 11, 2020 ShockCOVID-19 declared a pandemic. Lockdowns push unemployment to 14.8% in April 2020.
- Oct 24, 2018 LawSUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act. Bipartisan opioid package expanding addiction treatment, prevention and Medicaid coverage for recovery.
- Oct 26, 2017 Executive actionOpioid crisis declared a public health emergency. The administration declares a nationwide public health emergency over opioid overdoses.
- Mar 23, 2010 LawAffordable Care Act signed. Medicaid expansion, subsidized insurance marketplaces and an individual mandate; main coverage provisions start in 2014.