The number of annual opioid-related overdose fatalities fell below 1,000 for the first time in more than a decade in 2025, state health officials said Friday, marking a significant improvement since Massachusetts broke a devastating record a few years ago.

There were 978 confirmed and estimated opioid-related overdose deaths among Massachusetts residents last year, the Department of Public Health said. That represents a nearly 27% decrease over the 1,336 deaths in 2024, which also saw a sharp drop in fatal overdoses.

DPH says the declining trend mirrors data unfolding nationally.

“This progress, experienced by families across the Commonwealth as years of extra joy and life, is the result of a comprehensive and collaborative public health response that has prioritized evidence-based care, community partnership, and compassion,” Health and Human Services Secretary Kiame Mahaniah said. “Data show us that providing access to housing, harm reduction, treatment options, and supportive peer communities works to prevent overdose—and the Commonwealth will continue its commitment to supporting and expanding access to these tools and services.”

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A 2024 law expanded access to overdose-reversal drugs like naloxone, installed liability protections for providers and organizations offering drug checking services, and established licensure for recovery coaches. The law did not include a Senate-backed provision to legalize supervised injection sites, and proposals to do so this session are before the House and Senate Ways and Means committees.

Overdose deaths, which claimed more 2,000 lives annually between 2016 and 2023, reached a record high of 2,364 in 2022. The last time Massachusetts recorded less than 1,000 overdose fatalities was in 2013, when the opioid epidemic claimed the lives of 992 Bay Staters.

“While a 27 percent decrease in opioid overdose deaths is encouraging and reflects the impact of sustained investments in prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery support, we must never lose sight of the fact that behind every data point is a person — a loved one, a family member, a friend, a neighbor,” Deirdre Calvert, director of DPH’s Bureau of Substance Addiction Services, said.

DPH said it is still analyzing the latest data and will release more insights later this summer about how the decrease is reflected across Massachusetts communities.

In its recent report on overdoses in 2024, DPH offered three hypotheses for that year’s decrease, including a potentially safer street drug supply, fewer people at risk of overdoses, and expanded overdose prevention resources and services. DPH says overdose deaths rose from 2013 to 2022 due to the “increasing and erratic fentanyl concentrations in the drug supply.”

But xylazine, a sedative approved for veterinary use, has become increasingly common in the state’s drug supply between 2020 and 2024.

“One hypothesis is that using drugs containing xylazine may protect from fatal overdose by increasing the length of time that people are sedated after using, therefore decreasing the total number of use events,” the report says. “Another hypothesis is that due to the sedative effects of xylazine, suppliers may reduce the amount of fentanyl in their product.”

One in three Massachusetts residents use generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and Claude, according to Microsoft data.

Generative AI can create words, music, pictures, or videos, based on user prompts. For example, if you type a prompt asking for a fictional story, the AI tool will generate a passage with a setting, characters, and plot.

About 33.4% of working-age residents in Massachusetts use these tools, placing the state 11th in the U.S., according to Q1 2026 data. Hampshire County, home to the Five College Consortium, has the highest AI usage rate, at 45.1%.

Microsoft found that counties with more employment in professional and technical services, corporate management, healthcare, information and media, and finance tend to have higher AI usage. Additionally, counties with larger shares of residents ages 18 to 24 tend to have higher levels of AI usage.

Counties with larger shares of workers in manufacturing, agriculture, mining, oil and gas, and construction tend to have lower AI usage, according to Microsoft.

The figures are based on anonymized Microsoft usage data and adjusted for differences in devices, operating systems, internet access, and population size.

Top Massachusetts counties by generative AI usage

Here are Massachusetts’ 14 counties ranked by generative AI usage in Quarter 1 of 2026, and how they rank nationally, according to Microsoft:

1. Hampshire County – 45.1% of residents (#28 nationally)
2. Middlesex County – 37.9% of residents (#118 nationally)
3. Suffolk County – 35.6% of residents (#191 nationally)
4. Norfolk County – 34.3% of residents (#233 nationally)
5. Worcester County – 33.5% of residents (#265 nationally)
6. Plymouth County – 32.9% of residents (#283 nationally)
7. Essex County – 30.8% of residents (#385 nationally)
8. Bristol County – 28.2% of residents (#553 nationally)
9. Hampden County – 27.1% of residents (#645 nationally)
10. Barnstable County – 25.5% of residents (#790 nationally)
11. Berkshire County – 24.7% of residents (#878 nationally)
12. Nantucket County – 24.1% of residents (#937 nationally)
13. Franklin County – 23.8% of residents (#961 nationally)
14. Dukes County – 15.4% of residents (#2,450 nationally)

The legislation, first filed by state Representative Carole A. Fiola, would enable — but not require — bars and restaurants with liquor licenses to sell alcohol an additional hour past current closing times, starting Monday through July 31, albeit with the blessing of local licensing boards.

House lawmakers scaled the language back from the original bill, which had proposed allowing the later last call through Aug. 31.

“Summer 2026 presents a unique opportunity for Massachusetts,” Fiola, a Fall River Democrat, told lawmakers ahead of their vote Thursday. “While we may refer to it as soccer, football is the world’s most popular sport. . . . This bill will help capture economic opportunity.”

Pushing back last call has gained a drumbeat of support in recent weeks among leaders, including Mayor Michelle Wu, Governor Maura Healey, and state Senate President Karen Spilka, who have said the bill would help local businesses benefit from an expected surge of visitors for the World Cup matches at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough.

In Rhode Island, whose border is less than 30 miles from the stadium, Governor Daniel J. McKee signed a similar bill into law last week. Kansas, Missouri, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Washington — states either hosting World Cup matches or geographically adjacent to those hosting the tournament — have also approved measures to extend alcohol sales hours.

Wu has said city officials have been preparing for late-night crowds regardless of whether the bill passes, noting that some World Cup matches and related festivities are expected to run late into the evening. The city is, for example, allowing businesses that are licensed to close at 1 a.m. to apply for temporary permits to extend their hours to 2 a.m.

“The question isn’t whether it will cause people to be out and about,” Wu said. “It’s whether people will have something fun to do that also supports our local economy.”

The support marks a notable shift among legislators who have long been resistant to boozy measures. A repeated proposal to end a 40-year ban on happy hours has faced an uphill battle on Beacon Hill.

“Massachusetts has a persistent fun problem,” said state Senator Julian Cyr, a Provincetown Democrat who has proposed lifting the ban on happy hours in the last two legislative sessions.

“We’re an outlier in how restrictive we are with alcohol consumption,” he added. “In Massachusetts, you can gamble to your heart’s desire and buy cannabis legally. Why can’t we have happy hour or later last call?”

The Massachusetts Restaurant Association, which represents about 1,800 restaurants, said the short trial period for the later last call allows bar operators to try something new, according to the association’s president Steve Clark.

“Why not?” he said. “Rarely do you get the opportunity to pilot things.”

Among those excited to test the waters is Oran McGonagle, who can see the FIFA Fan Festival at Boston City Hall from his perch at the Dubliner, which the Irish native owns and operates.

McGonagle said the Dubliner has already added a back patio to expand capacity, complete with 15 brand-new televisions, food, and bar service. Fans coming from other countries will expect later service, he said, and he is excited to welcome visitors.

“Anything that is pro-bar, pro-getting people energetic, I’m all about,” McGonagle said. “And anything positive toward bars and nightlife might open the door for something to happen in the future.”

George Aboujaoude, owner of Committee in the Seaport and Eva on Newbury Street, is a 30-year nightclub industry veteran who also ran Bijou Nightclub and HUE Boston.

He said the industry has, for years, asked for later last call. He recalled being told that the city doesn’t have the infrastructure to support it, even when Boston hosted the Democratic National Convention in 2004.

Aboujaoude said he would consider pursuing the later license at Eva, but not at Committee, which is already open until 2 a.m.

“Extending hours can create additional revenue and opportunities,” he said. “I’d love Boston to become more open to business.”

Aboujaoude and others, however, are approaching the idea with caution. They note the liabilities that come with serving people who have been out drinking all day. MBTA service also ends around 1 a.m., leaving employees and patrons alike to find alternative ways home late at night.

Bartenders around Boston have also lamented the possibility of their shifts dragging deeper into the night.

“When you are serving drinks after midnight or 1 a.m., you are serving the people who have more than they should have had already. You open yourself up to liability,” said Chris Lute, owner of the bar, Miracle of Science, in Cambridge.

He said that while he supports an operator’s right to decide how late they stay open, a 3 a.m. last call “is not appealing to me.”

Nick Stoico of the Globe staff contributed to this report.

Samantha J. Gross can be reached at samantha.gross@globe.com. Follow her @samanthajgross.