Florida medical examiners tied 2,020 deaths in 2025 to fentanyl, down from 3,224 in 2024, state report shows

Florida medical examiners found that fentanyl caused 2,020 deaths in 2025, compared with 3,224 in 2024, a 37% decrease, according to the Florida Medical Examiners Commission’s 2025 annual drug report, which the Florida Department of Law Enforcement posts on its website.¹ The commission’s 2023 report listed 4,962 deaths caused by fentanyl that year.²

Gov. Ron DeSantis cited the report Tuesday, Oct. 20, in a release datelined Orlando. It said fentanyl caused “nearly 5,000 deaths” in 2023 and “approximately 2,000” in 2025. “Fentanyl-caused deaths in Florida have declined by nearly 60% since we launched the S.A.F.E. grant program in 2023,” DeSantis said in the release, which also quoted Larry Keefe, identified in it as commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.³ The Florida Phoenix reported that DeSantis made the announcement at an Orlando news conference.⁴

What the 2025 report counts

Florida’s Bureau of Vital Statistics recorded 229,209 deaths in 2025, and medical examiners investigated 30,317 of them, the report says. Toxicology found one or more of the drugs the commission tracks, including alcohol, in 11,121 of those deaths. The report lists that as a 12% decrease, 1,566 fewer than the year before; the 2024 report gave 12,687.¹⁵

The report separates drugs that caused a death from drugs that were only present. Under the report’s method, a medical examiner counts a drug as a cause of death only after weighing the case evidence, autopsy findings and lab results. One death can have several drugs listed, so drug counts are not death counts.¹

Deaths caused by each drug in 2025, with 2024 in parentheses, from the 2025 and 2024 reports:¹⁵

• Fentanyl: 2,020 (3,224), down 37%
• Fentanyl analogs: 294 (603)
• All opioids: 2,494 opioid-caused deaths (3,726), down 33%
• Cocaine: 1,612 (1,920), down 16%
• Methamphetamine: 1,158 (1,500), down 23%
• Ethyl alcohol: 761 (972)

Counting deaths where an opioid was either the cause or only present, the report lists 4,094 opioid-related deaths in 2025, down 24%. Fentanyl was found in 2,417 people who died, down 34%; it was ruled the cause in 2,020 and present in 397. The report says at least 82% of fentanyl occurrences were illicitly obtained.¹

The governor’s release gave the same percentage changes from 2024 to 2025 for total drug deaths, opioid deaths, cocaine deaths and methamphetamine deaths that appear in the report.³¹

The governor’s program figures

The release said investigations supported by the State Assistance for Fentanyl Eradication grant program, which it said was created in 2023, have to date resulted in nearly 3,000 arrests and seizures of more than 600 pounds of fentanyl, more than 65,000 fentanyl pills, nearly 800 pounds of cocaine, more than 520 pounds of methamphetamine, more than $6.6 million in cash and nearly 1,000 firearms. It said the program funds large-scale drug investigations and helps local law enforcement agencies take apart trafficking organizations.³ The Phoenix reported that the Legislature set aside more than $22.5 million for the program in the 2026-27 state budget.⁴

What the records do not show

• The medical examiners’ report does not give reasons for the decline or tie any change to a program or policy.
• The arrest and seizure totals come from the governor’s office; SignalData has not seen the underlying case records.
• The 11,121 deaths include cases in which a drug, including alcohol, was found but not ruled the cause.
• The 2025 report says 4-ANPP, a fentanyl precursor and metabolite, will no longer be listed as a fentanyl analog. It does not say whether that change affects the comparison of analog deaths with 2024.¹
• The governor’s release does not link to the report.