NEW YORK (AP) — Nearly 108,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in 2022, according to final federal figures released Thursday.

Over the last two decades, the number of U.S. overdose deaths has risen almost every year and continued to break annual records — making it the worst overdose epidemic in American history.

The official number for 2022 was 107,941, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, which is about 1% higher than the nearly 107,000 overdose deaths in 2021.

Earlier provisional data estimated more than 109,000 overdose deaths in 2022, but provisional data includes all overdose deaths, while the final numbers are limited to U.S. residents.

The female overdose death rate declined for the first time in five years, although the male overdose death rate continued to inch up, the report said. Males account for about 70% of U.S. overdose deaths.

The overall drug overdose death rate rose from 2021 to 2022, but the increase was so small it was not considered statistically significant.

The CDC has not yet reported overdose numbers for last year, although provisional data through the first ten months of the year suggest overdose deaths continued to be stable in 2023.

MORE NEWS

Medicare can pay for obesity drugs like Wegovy in certain heart patients

US surgeons transplant a gene-edited pig kidney into a patient for the first time

More than six in 10 US abortions in 2023 were done by medication — a significant jump since 2020

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.