The U.S. Economic Cost Of Opioid Use Disorder In 2017 Totaled $1 Trillion

The U.S. economic cost of opioid use disorder during 2017 totaled $1 trillion. Of that sum, $471 billion was due to opioid use disorder, and $550 billion was due to fatal opioid overdoses. Approximately 47,600 persons in the United States died from an opioid-involved overdose in 2018, and 2.13 million persons met the diagnostic criteria for an opioid use disorder in 2017.

The $471 billion in spending due to opioid use disorder included the following elements:

Health care at $26.3 billion
Addiction treatment at nearly $3 billion
Criminal justice costs at $12.4 billion
Lost . . .