Newly released provincial data show that nearly 1,500 Ontarians died from opioid overdoses last year.

Public Health Ontario has released updated statistics showing 1,473 people died from opioid-related causes in 2018, a jump of about 17 per cent from the previous year.

In 2017, a total of 1,261 people died from an opioid overdose, which was a roughly 45 per cent increase from 2016, when 867 people died.

The new data also show a spike of 2,973 emergency department visits due to opioid overdoses during the first three months of 2019.

That's an increase over the same period in 2018, which saw 1,843 emergency department visits caused by opioid overdoses.

The latest figures are the most recent available from Public Health Ontario.