New York City recorded 2,192 unintentional drug overdose deaths in 2024, down from 3,056 in 2023 — a decline of roughly 28% and the first substantial drop after nearly a decade of relentless increases, according to data released by the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

The figures, published in a DOHMH epidemiology data brief and announced by city officials in October 2025, mark a turning point in a crisis that had killed more New Yorkers each year since the mid-2010s. The city’s decline tracked a broader national reversal in overdose deaths reported by the CDC over the same period.

Fentanyl still dominates the supply

The improvement did not loosen fentanyl’s grip on the drug supply. The synthetic opioid was involved in 73% of all overdose deaths in 2024, down only modestly from 80% the year before. It remains the single deadliest substance in the city, frequently mixed into other drugs without users’ knowledge.

City officials have credited a mix of factors for the decline, including the wider distribution of naloxone, the overdose-reversal medication; expanded access to buprenorphine and other medications for opioid use disorder; drug-checking that lets users test for fentanyl and xylazine; and the city’s network of overdose prevention and harm-reduction services. Earlier in 2025, DOHMH had already flagged the lowest single quarter of opioid overdose deaths in five years.

A first since 2018 — but inequities persist

For the first time since 2018, overdose deaths decreased among Black and Latino New Yorkers, a notable shift in a crisis whose racial gaps had widened for years. DOHMH said the decline was nearly universal across demographic groups and neighborhoods in 2024.

The department was careful not to declare victory. Significant racial and geographic inequities remain, with the highest overdose death rates still concentrated in particular neighborhoods, and more than 2,000 New Yorkers still died of preventable overdoses in a single year. Officials framed the numbers as progress to build on rather than a finish line.

What it means under a new administration

The 2024 data — covering a year that ended before Mayor Zohran Mamdani took office on Jan. 1, 2026 — sets a baseline his administration inherits. New York’s opioid-settlement dollars and harm-reduction infrastructure, including the controversial overdose prevention centers operating in the city, will shape whether the decline holds.

The trajectory also intersects with the city’s mental-health and street-homelessness debates. Many of the New Yorkers most at risk of overdose are also those targeted by subway outreach teams and the broadened involuntary-commitment standard the state adopted in 2025 — making the overdose numbers a test not just of harm-reduction policy but of how the city connects its most vulnerable residents to treatment.

For now, the headline is unambiguous: after years of grim records, New York’s overdose deaths fell, and they fell across nearly every group the city tracks.

Verification

Frequently Asked Questions

How many people died of overdoses in NYC in 2024?
2,192 New Yorkers died of unintentional drug overdoses in 2024, down from 3,056 in 2023 — a decline of about 28%, according to the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
Is this the first decline?
Yes. DOHMH described it as the first substantial decrease following a nearly 10-year period of rising overdose deaths in the city, mirroring a national downturn.
What role did fentanyl play?
Fentanyl was involved in 73% of overdose deaths in 2024, down from 80% in 2023. It remains the deadliest drug in the city's supply.
Did the decline reach all communities?
For the first time since 2018, overdose deaths fell among Black and Latino New Yorkers. But the city says significant racial and geographic inequities persist, with the highest death rates still concentrated in specific neighborhoods.