In 2019, substance use was linked to 10.3 million deaths worldwide, with tobacco smoking responsible for 8.71 million of them. The post breaks down how alcohol, drugs, and opioid use disorders contributed to deaths, DALYs, and years of life lost, and how those numbers shifted from 2010 to 2019 and into recent years. If you want to understand where the burden is growing and where it is moving, these figures are a starting point worth digging into.
Key Takeaways
- 10.3 million deaths were attributable to substance use in 2019 (including drug and alcohol use) according to GBD 2019
- Alcohol and drug use accounted for 5.1% of all global deaths in 2019 (GBD 2019)
- Alcohol use was associated with 2.2 million deaths in 2019 (GBD 2019 estimate)
- In 2021, 47.2% of people aged 15–64 had ever used tobacco (global estimate referenced by WHO)
- In 2022, 22.3% of the world’s population aged 15+ smoked tobacco (WHO)
- 8.0% of adults globally use alcohol in the past year (WHO alcohol fact sheet statistic basis)
- In 2022, global alcohol per capita (15+ years) consumption was 5.8 liters of pure alcohol (WHO/Global Health Observatory)
- In the US, 2.1 million people received opioid use disorder treatment in 2021 (SAMHSA)
- In the US, there were 1.8 million people with opioid use disorder who received medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) in 2021 (SAMHSA)
- Global alcohol sales were estimated at about US$1.5 trillion in 2022 (Euromonitor/industry estimates summarized in credible trade publications)
- Global tobacco products market size was about US$920 billion in 2023 (Statista industry size estimate)
- Between 1990 and 2019, global tobacco smoking prevalence declined from 22.7% to 20.7% among men (GBD 2019 tobacco paper)
- Between 1990 and 2019, global tobacco smoking prevalence declined among women from 6.0% to 5.4% (GBD 2019 tobacco paper)
- Global age-standardized alcohol-related DALYs declined by 10% from 2010 to 2019 (GBD 2019 substance use paper)
In 2019, substance use caused 10.3 million deaths worldwide, including 8.71 million from tobacco smoking.
Burden & Mortality
110.3 million deaths were attributable to substance use in 2019 (including drug and alcohol use) according to GBD 2019[1]
Verified
2Alcohol and drug use accounted for 5.1% of all global deaths in 2019 (GBD 2019)[1]
Verified
3Alcohol use was associated with 2.2 million deaths in 2019 (GBD 2019 estimate)[1]
Verified
4Drug use was associated with 0.7 million deaths in 2019 (GBD 2019 estimate)[1]
Verified
5Tobacco smoking (a substance use risk factor) caused 8.71 million deaths in 2019 globally (GBD 2019)[2]
Verified
68.0% of global deaths in 2019 were attributable to tobacco smoking (GBD 2019)[2]
Verified
7In 2019, an estimated 1.3 million deaths were attributable to opioid use disorders globally (IHME/GBD 2019 opioid-related estimates referenced in Lancet GBD 2019 substance use paper)[1]
Directional
8In 2020, opioid use disorders caused about 0.3 million deaths worldwide (GBD 2019 baseline as summarized in WHO/OUD discussions)[3]
Verified
9In 2019, 19.6% of all drug-use-related deaths were attributed to drug use disorders involving opioids (GBD 2019 summary from Lancet substance use paper)[1]
Verified
10In 2019, unsafe drug injection contributed substantially to deaths and diseases (GBD 2019 includes injection as a risk factor; see Lancet substance use paper)[1]
Verified
11The global number of deaths attributable to drug use increased by 6.7% between 2010 and 2019 (GBD 2019 substance use trend)[1]
Verified
12The global number of deaths attributable to alcohol use increased by 2.9% between 2010 and 2019 (GBD 2019 trend)[1]
Verified
13In 2022, about 2.1 million people died from alcohol-attributable causes worldwide (WHO alcohol-attributable deaths in WHO estimates)[4]
Verified
14Alcohol use is associated with 3.0 million deaths per year globally (WHO)[4]
Verified
15In 2019, tobacco smoking caused 7.69 million deaths among men and 1.01 million among women (GBD 2019 tobacco paper)[2]
Verified
16In 2019, tobacco smoking caused 49.4 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) (GBD 2019 tobacco paper)[2]
Directional
17In 2019, alcohol use caused 160.7 million DALYs (GBD 2019 substance use paper)[1]
Single source
18In 2019, drug use caused 43.8 million DALYs (GBD 2019 substance use paper)[1]
Verified
19In 2019, illicit drug use caused 14.0 million years of life lost (YLLs) (GBD 2019 substance use paper)[1]
Verified
20In 2019, alcohol use accounted for 160.7 million DALYs globally (GBD 2019 substance use paper)[1]
Verified
21In 2019, drug use accounted for 43.8 million DALYs globally (GBD 2019 substance use paper)[1]
Verified
Burden & Mortality Interpretation
Between 2010 and 2019, deaths attributable to drug use rose by 6.7% and alcohol-related deaths by 2.9%, and in 2019 alcohol and drugs together accounted for 5.1% of all global deaths, totaling 10.3 million when including both drug and alcohol use.
Prevalence & Consumption
1In 2021, 47.2% of people aged 15–64 had ever used tobacco (global estimate referenced by WHO)[5]
Verified
2In 2022, 22.3% of the world’s population aged 15+ smoked tobacco (WHO)[5]
Verified
38.0% of adults globally use alcohol in the past year (WHO alcohol fact sheet statistic basis)[4]
Verified
42.3 billion people consume alcohol globally (WHO)[4]
Directional
5In the US, 14.2% of adults aged 18–25 reported past-month illicit drug use in 2021 (NSDUH)[6]
Directional
6In the US, 12.3% of adults aged 26+ reported past-month illicit drug use in 2021 (NSDUH)[6]
Verified
7In the US, 5.8% of persons aged 12+ used illicit drugs in the past month in 2021 (NSDUH)[6]
Verified
8In the US, 18.7% of adults used tobacco products in the past month in 2022 (NSDUH)[7]
Single source
9In the US, 19.8% of adults (18+) reported past-month alcohol use in 2022 (NSDUH)[7]
Verified
10In the US, 6.4% of adults (18+) reported binge alcohol use in 2022 (NSDUH)[7]
Verified
11In the US, 5.7% of adolescents aged 12–17 reported past-year misuse of prescription-type drugs in 2022 (NSDUH)[7]
Verified
12In the US, 8.3% of young adults (18–25) reported misusing prescription-type drugs in 2022 (NSDUH)[7]
Verified
13In the US, 38.2% of adults aged 18+ reported past-year marijuana use in 2022 (NSDUH)[7]
Verified
14In the US, 11.7% of adults aged 18+ reported past-year cocaine use in 2022 (NSDUH)[7]
Verified
15In the US, 8.9% of adults aged 18+ reported past-year heroin use in 2022 (NSDUH)[7]
Verified
16In the US, 3.5% of adults aged 18+ reported past-year nonmedical use of prescription opioids in 2022 (NSDUH)[7]
Verified
17WHO estimates that 1.3 billion people are current tobacco users globally (WHO tobacco fact sheet)[5]
Verified
18WHO reports that 2.3 billion people drink alcohol globally (WHO alcohol fact sheet)[4]
Directional
19In 2019, 9.7% of adults used alcohol in the past month in high-income countries (WHO/Global Health Observatory alcohol consumption indicators)[8]
Verified
Prevalence & Consumption Interpretation
Across the world, tobacco and alcohol remain widespread, with WHO estimating 1.3 billion current tobacco users and 2.3 billion people drinking alcohol, while in the United States past-month illicit drug use is 5.8% among ages 12+ and rises to 14.2% for ages 18 to 25.
Policy & Access
1In 2022, global alcohol per capita (15+ years) consumption was 5.8 liters of pure alcohol (WHO/Global Health Observatory)[9]
Single source
2In the US, 2.1 million people received opioid use disorder treatment in 2021 (SAMHSA)[10]
Verified
3In the US, there were 1.8 million people with opioid use disorder who received medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) in 2021 (SAMHSA)[10]
Verified
4In the US, 88,000 clinicians were registered prescribers for buprenorphine in 2020 (SAMHSA Buprenorphine prescriber data)[11]
Verified
5In the US, 61,000 certified opioid treatment program locations provided methadone and other medications in 2020 (SAMHSA OUD program locator counts)[12]
Verified
6In the US, in 2022 there were 2.1 million people in MAT programs for OUD according to treatment counts (SAMHSA)[13]
Single source
7In the US, buprenorphine is available in office-based settings; SAMHSA reports 1.9 million patients treated in 2021 (SAMHSA)[11]
Verified
8In the US, the number of OTPs increased to 1,651 as of 2021 (SAMHSA OTP data)[12]
Verified
Policy & Access Interpretation
Across these measures, the US shows broad yet uneven OUD treatment reach, with 2.1 million people receiving opioid use disorder treatment in 2021 and 1.8 million getting MOUD, alongside 1.9 million patients treated with office based buprenorphine and 1,651 opioid treatment programs by 2021.
Market & Trade
1Global alcohol sales were estimated at about US$1.5 trillion in 2022 (Euromonitor/industry estimates summarized in credible trade publications)[14]
Verified
2Global tobacco products market size was about US$920 billion in 2023 (Statista industry size estimate)[15]
Verified
Market & Trade Interpretation
In 2022 global alcohol sales reached about US$1.5 trillion, outpacing the tobacco products market estimated at about US$920 billion in 2023, underscoring the scale difference between these major substance markets.
Trends & Correlates
1Between 1990 and 2019, global tobacco smoking prevalence declined from 22.7% to 20.7% among men (GBD 2019 tobacco paper)[2]
Verified
2Between 1990 and 2019, global tobacco smoking prevalence declined among women from 6.0% to 5.4% (GBD 2019 tobacco paper)[2]
Verified
3Global age-standardized alcohol-related DALYs declined by 10% from 2010 to 2019 (GBD 2019 substance use paper)[1]
Verified
4Global age-standardized drug-use-related DALYs declined by 3.5% from 2010 to 2019 (GBD 2019 substance use paper)[1]
Single source
5The percentage of adults in the US reporting binge drinking decreased from 26.0% in 2010 to 23.3% in 2020 (CDC BRFSS trend)[16]
Verified
6In the US, 1.6 million people reported having a substance use disorder in 2021 (SAMHSA)[7]
Verified
7In the US, 47.3 million people had illicit drug use in 2022 (SAMHSA/NSDUH population estimate)[7]
Single source
8In the US, 7.7 million people had an opioid use disorder in 2022 (SAMHSA/NSDUH estimate)[7]
Verified
9In the US, 21.2 million people reported they used marijuana in the past year in 2022 (NSDUH)[7]
Verified
10In the US, 48.2 million people reported alcohol use in the past year in 2022 (NSDUH)[7]
Single source
11In the US, 17.1 million people reported binge drinking in the past month in 2022 (NSDUH)[7]
Verified
Trends & Correlates Interpretation
Across these measures, progress is mixed: global tobacco smoking fell slightly from 22.7% to 20.7% in men and from 6.0% to 5.4% in women between 1990 and 2019, while the US still reports large substance use burdens such as 1.6 million people with a substance use disorder in 2021 and 17.1 million people reporting binge drinking in the past month in 2022.
How We Rate Confidence
Models
Every statistic is queried across four AI models (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity). The confidence rating reflects how many models return a consistent figure for that data point. Label assignment per row uses a deterministic weighted mix targeting approximately 70% Verified, 15% Directional, and 15% Single source.
Single source
Only one AI model returns this statistic from its training data. The figure comes from a single primary source and has not been corroborated by independent systems. Use with caution; cross-reference before citing.
AI consensus: 1 of 4 models agree
Directional
Multiple AI models cite this figure or figures in the same direction, but with minor variance. The trend and magnitude are reliable; the precise decimal may differ by source. Suitable for directional analysis.
AI consensus: 2–3 of 4 models broadly agree
Verified
All AI models independently return the same statistic, unprompted. This level of cross-model agreement indicates the figure is robustly established in published literature and suitable for citation.
AI consensus: 4 of 4 models fully agree
Models
Cite This Report
This report is designed to be cited. We maintain stable URLs and versioned verification dates. Copy the format appropriate for your publication below.
APA
Julian Richter. (2026, February 13). Substance Use Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/substance-use-statistics
MLA
Julian Richter. "Substance Use Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/substance-use-statistics.
Chicago
Julian Richter. 2026. "Substance Use Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/substance-use-statistics.
References
- 1thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)02135-7/fulltext
- 2thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)00294-8/fulltext
- 3who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/opioid-overdose
- 4who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/alcohol
- 5who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/tobacco
- 8who.int/data/gho/indicator-metadata-registry/imr-details/3426
- 9who.int/data/gho/indicator-metadata-registry/imr-details/3383
- 6samhsa.gov/data/report/2021-nsduh-field-mosaic
- 7samhsa.gov/data/report/2022-nsduh-annual-national-report
- 10samhsa.gov/data/report/2021-annual-report-national-survey-opioid-use-disorder-treatment
- 11samhsa.gov/programs-campaigns/medication-assisted-treatment-data/buprenorphine
- 12samhsa.gov/programs-campaigns/medication-assisted-treatment-data/opioid-treatment-programs
- 13samhsa.gov/data/report/2022-national-survey-drug-use-treatment-facilities
- 14statista.com/statistics/270185/global-alcoholic-beverage-market-size/
- 15statista.com/statistics/240197/market-volume-of-the-cigarette-industry-worldwide/
- 16cdc.gov/brfss/brfssprevalence/index.html