Drug Overdose Fatality Data

The aggregate data shown below is organized into four categories: overdose fatalities by year since 2017, overdose fatalities by month since 2021, overdose fatalities by race since 2021, and overdose fatalities by drug type since 2021.

Data is provided by the Office of the Medical Examiner and is provisional and subject to change as additional information is reviewed.

The line graph above shows the total number of overdoses in the City of St. Louis from 2017 to 2022. There is a general upward trend with a high point of 490 fatalities in 2020.

The line graph shows the time trend over each month of 2021, 2022, and the first half of 2023. While 2021 and 2022 followed very similar trends across the year, the number of overdose fatalities in the beginning of 2023 was higher than previous years. Since April, fatality counts have been more consistent with 2021 and 2022.

The horizontal bar graph above shows overdose fatalities by race in the City of St. Louis for the years 2021 and 2022. In both years, counts of Black fatalities were much higher than White or Other Race fatalities. This disparity decreased slightly in 2022.

The horizontal bar graph above shows substances present in overdose fatalities in the City of St. Louis for the years 2021 and 2022. Most overdose deaths during those years in the city involved multiple substances. Each substance from those toxicology case results is included individually in our analysis. Therefore, the total drug count for the chart above adds up to more than the total drug overdose fatalities for that year (displayed in the top chart on this page). The categories are broken down into Opioids Alone, Fentanyl, Stimulants, Cocaine, and Amphetamines. Opioids are involved in nearly every overdose fatality for both years. Nearly every opioid fatality involves fentanyl. Stimulants, like cocaine and amphetamines, are seen only about half as often. Stimulant involvement did increase from 2021 to 2022.