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Drugs and alcohol

4 questions, with yearly data from 1980 to 2026.

Questions

QuestionYearsTrust
How many Americans die in crashes involving a drunk driver?11,904 people killed in traffic crashes, 2024Drugs and alcohol · United States1982–202563 Moderate
How many Americans die of drug overdoses, and is it rising?79,384 drug overdose deaths, 2024Drugs and alcohol · United States1999–202671 Moderate
How many people die of drug overdoses in each country?134 countries drug-induced deaths per 100,000 peopleDrugs and alcohol · World1994–202463 Moderate
How much alcohol is drunk per person in each country?208 countries litres of pure alcohol per person aged 15 or over, per yearDrugs and alcohol · World1980–202555 Low
Who publishes what (1 countries, 2 breakdowns)

Years this site has for each country and breakdown. "Stopped" means the country's figures in the UN homicide file stop after that year while its totals continue (reporting gaps). An empty cell means no source on this site, not that none exists.

CountryPeople by sexPeople by ethnicity or race
USA1999–20261999–2026
Recorded changes in how sources report (74)
  • 2026, NCHS predicted: As of April 2026 the delay adjustments behind the predicted counts are based on final 2024 data. source · page
  • 2026, NCHS predicted: The latest period carries the publisher's note "Underreported due to incomplete data." NCHS also says Oregon has substantial delays resolving pending records. source · page
  • 2025, NCHS predicted: NCHS's May 2026 release estimated 69,973 deaths in 2025; the dashboard with data available on 4 October 2026 predicts 70,735. Provisional figures are revised monthly. source · page
  • 2024, NCHS final: Each year's headline count switches from provisional to final once NCHS closes the file. Final counts are tabulated by residence and limited to US residents; provisional counts are by place of occurrence and include foreign residents, about 400-500 records a year by NCHS's account. For 2024: final 79,384, provisional reported 80,860, provisional predicted 81,313. source · page
  • 2024, NCHS predicted: For calendar 2024, provisional reported 80,860 and predicted 81,313 against final 79,384: predicted is 2.4% above final. Final counts cover US residents by residence; provisional counts cover all deaths by place of occurrence and later record updates. source · page
  • 2024, NCHS final: The share of overdose deaths naming a specific drug was 96% in 2023 and 2024. source · page
  • 2024, NCHS final: NCHS says race and Hispanic origin misclassification on death certificates underestimates rates by about 34% for American Indian and Alaska Native non-Hispanic people and 3% for Asian non-Hispanic and Hispanic people. It has not evaluated Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander people. source · page
  • 2023, NHTSA FARS: Each year's first figure comes from the Annual Report File and is replaced by the Final File a year later. The 2023 figure changed from 12,429 in the Annual Report File to 12,382 in the Final File. The 2024 figure is still the Annual Report File. source · page
  • 2022, NHTSA FARS: Motorized bicycles stopped counting as motor vehicles in FARS. Their riders now count as pedalcyclists when a motor vehicle is in the crash; crashes involving only motorized bicycles are no longer captured. source · page
  • 2022, NCHS predicted: In early 2022 NCHS cut the report's lag from 6 months to 4 months. source · page
  • 2022, NCHS final: Category names change, not the groups: "Non-Hispanic White" in briefs covering 2019-2021 is "White, non-Hispanic" from the brief covering 2021-2022. This page uses the 2024 labels throughout. source · page
  • 2021, NHTSA FARS: NHTSA amended the 2021 FARS Final File, which changed alcohol-impaired-driving deaths for 2021 from 13,617 to 13,599. source · page
  • 2021, FBI arrests: The FBI moved to NIBRS-only reporting on 1 January 2021; it says participation for 2021 stayed below a level that is nationally representative. RealStats' mean of the FBI's monthly coverage for this arrest count was 77.0% that year. For 2022 and later the FBI also accepted Summary Reporting System data from agencies that had not moved. source · page
  • 2021, NCHS final: From 2021 NCHS's rates use July 1 population estimates built on the Census Bureau's blended base, instead of the April 1, 2020 census count: Data Briefs 491 (2021-2022), 522 (2021-2023) and 549 (2023-2024) each say so. source · page
  • 2021, OECD: Source from 2021 on is MonAM. source · page
  • 2020, OECD: OECD adds data from Colombia's Alcohol Consumption Monitoring System from 2020 on. source · page
  • 2020, OECD: Source for 2020 is the Federal Customs Administration. source · page
  • 2019, OECD: Source changes from the Australian Bureau of Statistics to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare from 2018-19. source · page
  • 2018, NCHS predicted: NCHS re-evaluated how long jurisdictions must meet data quality requirements to appear in the drug-class figure, and added states. This affects state figures, not the national count. source · page
  • 2018, NCHS final: NCHS's Health, United States overdose table moves to single-race categories in 2018 (one race reported on the death certificate). Figures on this page start in 2019 and are single race. source · page
  • 2018, WHO: WHO's file for this country moves to detailed ICD-10 codes in 2018; for 2014 it holds only a condensed list, which has no drug-only count. source · page
  • 2018, OECD: OECD's source from 2018 on is STAP. source · page
  • 2017, OECD: OECD break in series: tourist alcohol consumption is excluded from 2017 on, with a new source. source · page
  • 2016, OECD: OECD break in series: beverage types, some strengths and the collection method changed. source · page
  • 2016, OECD: Purchases from abroad are included from 2016. source · page
  • 2016, OECD: Source changes to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. source · page
  • 2015, NCHS predicted: The national 12-month-ending provisional series starts with January 2015. source · page
  • 2015, OECD: OECD break in series: change in methodology for wine from 2014-15. source · page
  • 2015, OECD: From 2015 the figures come from National Tax Service data alone. source · page
  • 2014, NCHS final: The share of overdose deaths naming a specific drug was 75% to 79% in 1999-2013 and rose from 81% in 2014 to 94% in 2020, so drug-specific counts in earlier years leave out more deaths. source · page
  • 2014, OECD: OECD's data file marks a series break at 2014; its country note places the change of source and methodology at 2015. source · page
  • 2013, WHO: WHO's file for this country moves to detailed ICD-10 codes in 2013; for 2012 it holds only a condensed list, which has no drug-only count. source · page
  • 2012, OECD: Estimates from 2011-12 were recalculated when the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare took over the collection. source · page
  • 2011, WHO: WHO's file for this country moves to detailed ICD-10 codes in 2011; for 2010 it holds only a condensed list, which has no drug-only count. source · page
  • 2011, OECD: OECD break in series: change in the source of data. source · page
  • 2010, WHO: WHO's file for this country moves to detailed ICD-10 codes in 2010; for 2009 it holds only a condensed list, which has no drug-only count. source · page
  • 2010, OECD: OECD's source for 2010-2017 is the Jellinek and Trimbos Institutes. source · page
  • 2009, OECD: OECD break in series: change in methodology for wine from 2008-09. source · page
  • 2008, OECD: OECD break in series: change in data collection and methodology. source · page
  • 2008, OECD: Source changes from the Federal Alcohol Board to Addiction Suisse. source · page

34 more on the topic's pages.