Drug-induced deaths

For related content on drug-induced deaths, see also:

> Health impacts: Drug-induced deaths

Drug-induced deaths are defined as those that can be directly attributable to drug use (i.e. where drug overdose is recorded as the underlying cause of death), as determined by toxicology and pathology reports. In Australia in 2020, there were 1,348 drug-induced deaths in Major cities (age-standardised rate of 7.2 deaths per 100,000 population) and 467 in Regional and remote areas (6.8 deaths per 100,000).

The following data visualisation shows drug-induced deaths in Australia from 2009 to 2020, by remoteness area and drug type or drug class. Click to view the data as number of drug-induced deaths or age-standardised rate per 100,000 population.

See also the Technical notes.

Number or age-standardised rate (per 100,000 population) of drug-induced deathsᵃ, by remoteness area and drug type or drug class, 2009 to 2020

This figure shows that the number of drug-induced deaths for All antidepressants was consistently higher in Major cities than Regional and remote areas from 2009 to 2020. In 2020, there were 394 deaths related to All antidepressants in Major cities, compared to 154 in Regional and remote areas. The number of deaths has increased overall from 2009 to 2020, but has declined since 2018 in both Major cities and Regional and remote areas. A filter allows the user to select different drug types and view the rate of drug induced-deaths.