University of Toledo

The Economic Impact of the Opioid Epidemic
in Northwest Ohio

The opioid epidemic continues to be a serious public health issue affecting every state in the nation. In addition to the toll opioid abuse takes on human life, the crisis is affecting our economic well-being. In metropolitan Toledo — Lucas, Wood, Fulton and Ottawa counties — the number of fatal opioid overdoses has risen from less than two dozen in 2007 to more than 145 annually in each of the last three years.

Each of those losses causes significant damage to the regional economy, both directly from lost spending, wages and productivity, and indirectly from lower employment and other trickle-down effects. A 2019 analysis from The University of Toledo puts the total impact of overdose death at $1.6 billion.

$ 1.6B

TOTAL IMPACT OF OVERDOSE DEATHS

$8.67M

Direct impact of each opioid overdose death

147

Overdose deaths directly attributed to opioid overdose in 2017

$1.27B

Total lost economic output directly related to those 147 overdose deaths

$329M

Indirect impact, or spillover effect, of overdose deaths

$1.6B

Total economic impact of the opioid crisis in metropolitan Toledo

$36B

Metropolitan Toledo’s gross domestic product in 2017

4.5%

Region’s total gross domestic lost to opioid crisis

2,082

Full-time equivalent jobs lost in 2017 across the region because of the opioid epidemic

Last Updated: 6/27/22