The Economic Cost and Spatial Diffusion of the Opioid Crisis, 2009–18

The Economic Cost and Spatial Diffusion of the Opioid Crisis, 2009–18

Recent data show a small decline in opioid-related mortality following a decade during which opioid-related mortality more than doubled to nearly 53,000 in 2018. However, the aggregate statistics mask important spatial and temporal trends in the data. This report estimates nationwide, regional, and county-level economic costs associated with the opioid crisis.