How many overdose deaths involve heroin?

1,738 overdose deaths in the US in the 12 months ending April 2026 involved heroin, about a tenth of the peak of about 16,200 in mid-2017. A death can involve more than one drug. The counts are provisional, and the latest months are slightly undercounted while investigations finish. CDC's provisional counts start with the 12 months ending January 2015.

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Key facts

Measure: Overdose deaths involving heroin in the previous 12 months. Written from the data below.

  • The latest figure, for May 2026, is 1,684.
  • That is down 84% from 10,788 in Jan 2015.
  • The highest was 16,168 in Jun 2017.
  • It is the lowest in the data, which go back to Jan 2015.

Source and date

Source
CDC National Center for Health Statistics, Provisional drug overdose death counts
License
Public domain (U.S. government work)
Data as of
Published

Citation

Chartly. “How many overdose deaths involve heroin?” Chart. Data: CDC National Center for Health Statistics, Provisional drug overdose death counts, https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/drug-overdose-data.htm (data as of May 31, 2026). https://chart.ly/charts/heroin-overdose-deaths (accessed October 15, 2026).

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The data

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The file has the numbers in this table, with the source, license and date. Please credit the source and Chartly.

12 months ending Overdose deaths involving heroin in the previous 12 months
Jan 2015 10,788
Feb 2015 11,002
Mar 2015 11,167
Apr 2015 11,471
May 2015 11,675
Jun 2015 11,805
Jul 2015 11,985
Aug 2015 12,201
Sep 2015 12,527
Oct 2015 12,700
Nov 2015 12,972
Dec 2015 13,051
Jan 2016 13,221
Feb 2016 13,479
Mar 2016 13,767
Apr 2016 14,010
May 2016 14,166
Jun 2016 14,410
Jul 2016 14,681
Aug 2016 14,859
Sep 2016 14,912
Oct 2016 14,984
Nov 2016 15,143
Dec 2016 15,551
Jan 2017 15,868
Feb 2017 15,963
Mar 2017 16,019
Apr 2017 16,011
May 2017 16,137
Jun 2017 16,168
Jul 2017 16,058
Aug 2017 16,014
Sep 2017 15,975
Oct 2017 15,919
Nov 2017 15,763
Dec 2017 15,593
Jan 2018 15,310
Feb 2018 15,150
Mar 2018 15,080
Apr 2018 15,038
May 2018 14,979
Jun 2018 15,033
Jul 2018 15,070
Aug 2018 15,129
Sep 2018 15,100
Oct 2018 15,155
Nov 2018 15,127
Dec 2018 15,102
Jan 2019 15,089
Feb 2019 15,060
Mar 2019 15,002
Apr 2019 14,904
May 2019 14,798
Jun 2019 14,640
Jul 2019 14,532
Aug 2019 14,409
Sep 2019 14,288
Oct 2019 14,178
Nov 2019 14,247
Dec 2019 14,116
Jan 2020 14,059
Feb 2020 14,008
Mar 2020 13,930
Apr 2020 14,059
May 2020 14,379
Jun 2020 14,413
Jul 2020 14,395
Aug 2020 14,252
Sep 2020 14,096
Oct 2020 13,826
Nov 2020 13,509
Dec 2020 13,253
Jan 2021 13,091
Feb 2021 12,750
Mar 2021 12,535
Apr 2021 12,164
May 2021 11,467
Jun 2021 11,009
Jul 2021 10,648
Aug 2021 10,333
Sep 2021 10,079
Oct 2021 9,873
Nov 2021 9,560
Dec 2021 9,263
Jan 2022 8,933
Feb 2022 8,733
Mar 2022 8,327
Apr 2022 7,933
May 2022 7,603
Jun 2022 7,374
Jul 2022 7,062
Aug 2022 6,789
Sep 2022 6,540
Oct 2022 6,293
Nov 2022 6,099
Dec 2022 5,958
Jan 2023 5,710
Feb 2023 5,534
Mar 2023 5,344
Apr 2023 5,204
May 2023 5,076
Jun 2023 4,963
Jul 2023 4,786
Aug 2023 4,623
Sep 2023 4,490
Oct 2023 4,359
Nov 2023 4,207
Dec 2023 4,062
Jan 2024 3,940
Feb 2024 3,823
Mar 2024 3,669
Apr 2024 3,567
May 2024 3,450
Jun 2024 3,283
Jul 2024 3,196
Aug 2024 3,077
Sep 2024 2,968
Oct 2024 2,904
Nov 2024 2,882
Dec 2024 2,794
Jan 2025 2,749
Feb 2025 2,688
Mar 2025 2,669
Apr 2025 2,584
May 2025 2,524
Jun 2025 2,489
Jul 2025 2,427
Aug 2025 2,373
Sep 2025 2,300
Oct 2025 2,226
Nov 2025 2,141
Dec 2025 2,060
Jan 2026 1,998
Feb 2026 1,938
Mar 2026 1,848
Apr 2026 1,752
May 2026 1,684

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