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America's opioid death rate has soared since 1999

Opioid-related deaths in the United States have increased across the board between 1999-2015, according to data from the Centers for Disease control. This chart shows how the number of deaths per 100,000 has ballooned across all age and sex groups.

Data: Centers for Disease Control

Some takeaways:

  • The 55-64 age group had the largest percent increase in deaths per 100,000. For women, it rose from 3.5 to 17.7 (406%), and for men, it rose from 5.0 to 26.4 (428%).
  • The death rate is higher at different ages depending on the sex group. For men, the most affected group are those ages 25 to 34, there the death rate is 38.1 per 100,000. For women, it is ages 45 to 54, with 25.1 deaths per 100,000.
  • Men die more often than women across all age groups, although the death rate for women increased more between 1999 and 2015 for those between ages 15-54.

How we got the data: We used the CDC's WONDER system to pull data for each group over time. We used the CDC's criteria for deaths involving all opioid poisonings, from both illicit and prescription drugs. You can take a look at the data we collected here.

Opioid epidemic