21 Kratom Powder Usage Statistics: A Comprehensive Research Analysis 2025–2026
- Key Takeaways
- Usage Prevalence and Demographics
- 1. Past-year prevalence reached approximately 0.7%, or about 1.7–1.8 million people, in the 2019 NSDUH.
- 2. The average age of kratom users is about 40 years, and roughly 61% are female in convenience samples.
- 3. About 59% of kratom users report daily use, often taking it one to three times per day.
- 4. Typical kratom doses fall between one and three grams per use.
- Primary Motivations for Use
- 5. Approximately 41% of users take kratom to reduce or stop using opioids.
- 6. Real-time studies show that kratom use is primarily concentrated in daytime hours for task-focused purposes.
- Dependence and Withdrawal Statistics
- 7. Nearly 29.5% of surveyed users met DSM-5 criteria for Kratom Use Disorder.
- 8. Frequent kratom use of three or more doses per day significantly increases the risk of dependence.
- 9. Withdrawal symptoms from kratom typically last three to ten days.
- Safety and Adverse Events
- 10. The FDA recorded 78 adverse event reports in 2021, including 20 deaths.
- 11. 87% of kratom-related deaths involved use of other substances.
- 12. Between 2011 and 2018, U.S. poison centers received 2,312 calls about kratom exposures.
- 13. Analyses suggest that kratom carries a far lower fatal overdose risk than opioids.
- Co-Use with Other Substances
- 14. 10.4% of those with prescription opioid use disorder report kratom use.
- 15. Cannabis users show 4.57x higher odds of kratom use.
- Treatment and Recovery
- 16. Medication-assisted therapy, such as buprenorphine, can help people with severe Kratom Use Disorder.
- 17. 20.8% of substance users in residential treatment report lifetime kratom use.
- Pharmacology and Regulatory Context
- 18. Animal studies show that mitragynine has low reinforcing properties compared to opioids.
- 19. Kratom’s active compounds affect multiple receptor systems beyond opioids.
- 20. Kratom remains federally unscheduled but is banned in seven U.S. states as of August 2025.
- 21. In 2021, the World Health Organization declined to recommend international scheduling of kratom.
- Conclusion
Evidence-based data compiled from peer-reviewed studies, FDA reports, and national health surveys
Key Takeaways
- Past-year U.S. kratom use ≈0.7% (~1.7–1.8M people, NSDUH 2019); most report pain, anxiety, or depression as motivations, though the FDA has not approved kratom for any medical use.
- Daily use and 1–3 g dosing are common among regular users, often for energy/productivity and pain rather than recreation.
- Kratom Use Disorder (KUD) affects a subset (~29.5% in one online sample; majority mild/moderate), not the majority.
- Serious adverse events are rare relative to total users, but most kratom-positive deaths involve other substances(e.g., fentanyl, heroin, benzodiazepines).
- Legal status remains fragmented: federally unscheduled; 7 states ban it (RI moving to regulation in 2026).
- Pharmacology is complex, with multi-receptor activity and mixed findings on abuse potential.
- WHO (2021) declined to recommend international scheduling; research continues.
Usage Prevalence and Demographics
1. Past-year prevalence reached approximately 0.7%, or about 1.7–1.8 million people, in the 2019 NSDUH.
Kratom use remains a niche behavior compared to alcohol or cannabis, but millions of Americans report past-year use. The NSDUH data provide the most reliable nationwide estimate, though researchers note that self-report surveys likely undercount unregulated substance use.
Source: FDA – Kratom Statistics and Safety Information
2. The average age of kratom users is about 40 years, and roughly 61% are female in convenience samples.
Unlike many substances with predominantly young male user bases, kratom surveys often show a middle-aged, female-skewed demographic. Researchers attribute this pattern partly to chronic pain prevalence and self-medication behaviors among women.
Source: PubMed – Kratom User Demographics Study
3. About 59% of kratom users report daily use, often taking it one to three times per day.
Daily kratom use suggests a shift from recreational use toward self-treatment for health conditions. Morning and afternoon dosing patterns align with pain relief and energy-boosting rather than intoxication.
Source: Frontiers in Pharmacology – Kratom Safety and Toxicology
4. Typical kratom doses fall between one and three grams per use.
Most users report low to moderate doses, often enough to produce pain relief or mood enhancement without heavy sedation. At higher doses, kratom’s effects shift toward opioid-like properties, raising dependence risks.
Source: Drug and Alcohol Dependence – Kratom Use Patterns
Primary Motivations for Use
5. Approximately 41% of users take kratom to reduce or stop using opioids.
A significant number of users report replacing or tapering off opioids with kratom. Some describe long-term abstinence attributed to kratom, though most of this evidence comes from self-reports, not clinical trials.
Source: Drug and Alcohol Dependence – Kratom as Opioid Substitute
6. Real-time studies show that kratom use is primarily concentrated in daytime hours for task-focused purposes.
Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) research tracks real-time dosing via smartphone apps, revealing kratom use peaks during work hours. This finding challenges assumptions about kratom as primarily recreational.
Source: Frontiers in Pharmacology – Kratom Safety and Toxicology
Dependence and Withdrawal Statistics
7. Nearly 29.5% of surveyed users met DSM-5 criteria for Kratom Use Disorder.
Among online samples, nearly one-third met diagnostic criteria for substance use disorder, with most cases mild or moderate. This highlights a real, but not universal, risk for problematic use.
Source: Journal of Addiction Medicine – Kratom Use Disorder Assessment
8. Frequent kratom use of three or more doses per day significantly increases the risk of dependence.
Frequency of use emerges as a stronger predictor of dependence than dose amount alone. Those taking kratom three or more times daily show exponentially higher rates of tolerance, withdrawal, and inability to control use. This pattern suggests cumulative exposure and steady-state blood levels contribute to dependence development. The finding has implications for harm reduction messaging about safer use patterns.
Source: BMC Public Health – Kratom Dependence Patterns
9. Withdrawal symptoms from kratom typically last three to ten days.
Kratom withdrawal syndrome presents with both physical and psychological symptoms lasting 3-10 days after cessation. Physical symptoms commonly include muscle aches, insomnia, runny nose, hot flashes, decreased appetite, and diarrhea. Psychological symptoms encompass anxiety, irritability, restlessness, depression, and intense cravings. Withdrawal severity correlates with dose, frequency, and duration of use, with daily users experiencing more intense symptoms.
Source: PubMed – Kratom Withdrawal Symptoms
Safety and Adverse Events
10. The FDA recorded 78 adverse event reports in 2021, including 20 deaths.
The FDA’s adverse event reporting system documented serious safety signals, though causality assessment remains challenging. Among death reports with toxicology data, mitragynine was the sole cause in 40% and a contributory factor in 60% of cases. Blood mitragynine concentrations in fatal cases ranged from 190 to 5,400 ng/mL, showing wide variability. The high death percentage among adverse reports contrasts with the large user population, suggesting reporting bias toward severe outcomes.
Source: FDA CAERS – Kratom Adverse Event Reports
11. 87% of kratom-related deaths involved use of other substances.
Polysubstance use emerges as the primary risk factor for fatal outcomes, with fentanyl, heroin, benzodiazepines, and alcohol being common co-intoxicants. Single-substance kratom deaths remain rare and often involve underlying health conditions or extremely high doses. This pattern suggests drug interactions and combined respiratory depression as primary fatal mechanisms. The finding emphasizes the importance of avoiding mixing kratom with other central nervous system depressants. Source: PMC – Kratom Mortality Analysis
12. Between 2011 and 2018, U.S. poison centers received 2,312 calls about kratom exposures.
National Poison Data System reports show a dramatic increase in kratom-related calls, particularly after 2015. Importantly, 60% of these exposures involved other drugs, complicating causality assessment. The majority of single-substance kratom exposures resulted in minor or moderate effects rather than severe outcomes. The increase parallels growing use prevalence but may also reflect increased awareness among healthcare providers.
Source: PMC – Past-Year Kratom Use Statistics
13. Analyses suggest that kratom carries a far lower fatal overdose risk than opioids.
Comparative risk analysis suggests kratom’s fatality risk, while not zero, is substantially lower than that of classical opioids. This thousand-fold difference reflects kratom’s ceiling effect on respiratory depression, a key safety advantage. The calculation assumes single-substance use; polysubstance use dramatically increases risk. The lower fatality risk supports harm reduction arguments, but doesn’t eliminate safety concerns.
Source: Preventive Medicine – Risk of Death Comparison
Co-Use with Other Substances
14. 10.4% of those with prescription opioid use disorder report kratom use.
Kratom use is disproportionately high among individuals with opioid use disorder, suggesting self-medication attempts. Those with active opioid use disorder show 3.2 times higher odds of kratom use compared to the general population. This association raises questions about kratom’s role in the opioid epidemic – a potential harm reduction tool or gateway substance. Many report kratom helps manage opioid cravings and withdrawal symptoms.
Source: American Journal of Preventive Medicine – Kratom and Opioid Use
15. Cannabis users show 4.57x higher odds of kratom use.
Strong associations exist between kratom and cannabis use, independent of cannabis use disorder status. This relationship may reflect openness to botanical substances, self-medication patterns, or complementary effects. Some users report combining kratom and cannabis for enhanced pain relief or mood management. The association suggests kratom users often have experience with other psychoactive substances.
Source: PMC – Kratom and Cannabis Co-use
Treatment and Recovery
16. Medication-assisted therapy, such as buprenorphine, can help people with severe Kratom Use Disorder.
Case reports suggest that standard opioid treatments like buprenorphine can help people with severe kratom dependence. Most users, however, manage cessation without formal medical support.
Source: Harvard Health – Kratom Treatment Options
17. 20.8% of substance users in residential treatment report lifetime kratom use.
Kratom use prevalence in addiction treatment settings far exceeds general population rates, indicating overlap with substance use disorders. Treatment-seeking individuals report using kratom for various motivations, including harm reduction and managing withdrawal. The high prevalence suggests addiction counselors need kratom-specific training and protocols. Some treatment programs now screen for kratom use and address it in recovery planning.
Source: Drug and Alcohol Dependence – Kratom in Treatment Settings
Pharmacology and Regulatory Context
18. Animal studies show that mitragynine has low reinforcing properties compared to opioids.
Preclinical research demonstrates that mitragynine doesn’t maintain intravenous self-administration in rats, unlike morphine. Animals don’t voluntarily seek mitragynine, suggesting lower reinforcement potential than classical opioids. However, 7-hydroxymitragynine, a minor alkaloid, does show self-administration, complicating abuse potential assessment. These findings support kratom’s atypical opioid classification but don’t eliminate abuse concerns.
Source: PMC – Kratom Pharmacology Research
19. Kratom’s active compounds affect multiple receptor systems beyond opioids.
Research reveals complex pharmacology involving opioid, adrenergic, serotonergic, and dopaminergic systems. Mitragynine acts as a partial opioid agonist with additional monoamine effects. This multi-receptor activity may explain kratom’s unique effect profile compared to classical opioids. The complex pharmacology complicates both therapeutic development and safety assessment.
Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse – Kratom Pharmacology
20. Kratom remains federally unscheduled but is banned in seven U.S. states as of August 2025.
The DEA withdrew the 2016 emergency scheduling after unprecedented public comment, including 23,000+ submissions. State-level regulations vary from complete bans to consumer protection acts requiring testing and labeling. The patchwork regulatory landscape creates confusion for consumers and businesses. Federal agencies maintain that kratom cannot be legally marketed as a dietary supplement or food additive.
Source: FDA – Legal Status and Regulation
21. In 2021, the World Health Organization declined to recommend international scheduling of kratom.
The WHO Expert Committee on Drug Dependence reviewed kratom evidence and found insufficient justification for international scheduling. The committee acknowledged both potential risks and therapeutic possibilities requiring further research. This decision influenced national regulatory approaches and research priorities. The WHO continues monitoring kratom but hasn’t recommended control measures.
Source: NIDA – WHO Decision on Kratom
Conclusion
Together, these statistics reveal a nuanced picture of kratom powder use across the United States and globally. Millions of people use kratom daily, primarily for chronic pain relief, anxiety management, or as a substitute for opioids, with self-reports suggesting improvements in mood, function, and quality of life. Real-time research confirms that dosing typically happens during the day and in moderate amounts, supporting the idea that most users take kratom for practical rather than recreational purposes.
At the same time, public health concerns remain. Nearly one-third of users meet criteria for Kratom Use Disorder, withdrawal symptoms are common among daily users, and adverse events, while rare, become far more dangerous when other substances are involved. Moving forward, clinical trials, quality control measures, and clear regulatory policies will be essential to balancing potential therapeutic benefits with the documented risks of dependence and adverse health outcomes.
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