0.69
per 100,000 people, 2023
Moderate trust, 68 of 100 Only one source (WHO), so it cannot be checked against another.
Show the data as a table
| Year | WHO Mortality Database, drug-induced deaths |
|---|---|
| 1995 | 0.5 |
| 1996 | 0.51 |
| 1997 | 0.58 |
| 1998 | 0.53 |
| 1999 | 0.67 |
| 2000 | 0.73 |
| 2001 | 0.76 |
| 2002 | 0.77 |
| 2003 | 0.77 |
| 2004 | 0.85 |
| 2005 | 0.84 |
| 2006 | 0.86 |
| 2007 | 0.84 |
| 2008 | 0.79 |
| 2009 | 0.93 |
| 2010 | 0.82 |
| 2011 | 0.86 |
| 2012 | 0.76 |
| 2013 | 0.71 |
| 2014 | 0.7 |
| 2015 | 0.61 |
| 2016 | 0.59 |
| 2017 | 0.56 |
| 2018 | 0.53 |
| 2019 | 0.57 |
| 2020 | 0.54 |
| 2021 | 0.62 |
| 2022 | 0.63 |
| 2023 | 0.69 |
All countriesAll of Japan's figuresCompare
Japan among 131 countries
61 have a higher figure and 69 a lower one. Definitions differ between countries, and their years run from 2003 to 2024.
What this number counts
- Counts
- Deaths with an underlying cause of poisoning by drugs or medicines, any intent (ICD-10 X40-X44, X60-X64, X85, Y10-Y14), per 100,000 people
- Where
- Japan
- When
- 2023 (one year, not an average)
Where the number comes from (1 source)
| Source | Figure and year | Definition | Quality | Counts for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
WHO Mortality Database, drug-induced deathsWorld Health Organization (WHO) · Death and health registersRetrieved 2026-10-25 | 0.692023 | Registered deaths whose underlying cause is poisoning by drugs, medicines or biological substances: ICD-10 X40-X44 (accidental), X60-X64 (self-inflicted), X85 (assault) and Y10-Y14 (undetermined intent), all ages and both sexes, divided by the population in WHO's population file for the same year.Crude rate, not age-standardised. WHO list used: 104 (these lists give ICD-10 codes one by one; the condensed lists 101 and UE1 cannot be used). Illegal and prescribed drugs are counted together. National rows only. The yearly series starts at 1995, the first year WHO holds detailed ICD-10 codes for this country. Raw files: morticd10_part1-6.zip (831 deaths: 250 accidental, 421 self-inflicted, 0 assault, 160 undetermined intent) and mort_pop.zip. The same file records 7 deaths for this year coded to mental and behavioural disorders from psychoactive substances other than alcohol and tobacco (F11-F16, F18-F19); these are not in the figure. WHO publishes the data as the country sent them and does not adjust for incomplete registration. | 5 of 5 checks
| 100% |
- WHO100%
How the trust score was worked out
- Quality40 / 40
How well the sources are made
- Agreement15 / 30
Unknown with one source, so set to half
- Independence6 / 20
How many separate ways the number was measured
- Freshness7 / 10
How recent the newest data is
Who reports it, and since when
No source of these kinds: model-based estimate.
- Single source: nothing to check it against
figure no figure here, inside its range no later figure recorded change
Why the numbers differ
- Which codes count. This page counts deaths coded as poisoning by drugs and medicines, whatever the intent. It leaves out deaths coded to drug-use disorders in the F chapter of ICD-10, and it includes prescribed medicines.
- For 1 of the 77 countries with 20 or more deaths in the latest year (from 2018), more deaths are coded to drug-use disorders (F11-F16, F18-F19) than to the poisoning codes used here, and those deaths are not in this figure. Each line's notes give the count. (source, retrieved 2026-10-25)
- Under-reporting. Where death registration is incomplete the rate is too low, and each line says so. A poisoning recorded without naming a substance can fall outside these codes.
- Undetermined intent. Deaths coded Y10-Y14 are in this total. A source that counts only accidental poisonings will be lower. For 18 of the 77 countries with 20 or more deaths in the latest year (from 2018), 25% or more of the total is coded undetermined intent, highest in Egypt 87.4%, South Africa 86.8%, Malaysia 61.7%, Bulgaria 54.5%, Croatia 47.1%. Each line's notes give the split. (source, retrieved 2026-10-25)
- Unspecified substances. For 16 of those countries, more poisoning deaths are coded to unspecified chemicals and noxious substances (X49, X69, Y19) than to drugs. Those lines fail the quality check for known problems. (source, retrieved 2026-10-25)
Common mistakes
- Comparing these rates with a rate in another unit or for another age group without converting. These are deaths per 100,000 people of all ages.
- Reading a drug-induced death rate as a rate of illegal drug use. These codes also count deaths from prescribed and over-the-counter medicines.
Download, cite and report an error
From the table How many people die of drug overdoses in each country? Updated 2026-11-02.
Download every value in this table (CSV)
Cite as: RealStats, “Drug-induced death rate in Japan”, updated 2026-11-02, with the original sources listed on the page.