Scotland drug deaths decrease - but rate still higher than rest of Europe

Scotland drug deaths decrease – but rate still higher than rest of Europe

Just over 1,000 people in Scotland died as a result of drug misuse in 2022, the lowest number since 2017.

It is 288 fewer than the peak of 1,339 recorded in 2020.

The lower number of 1,051 is still equivalent to almost three people dying every day, and is by far the highest rate of any country in Europe, including the rest of Great Britain.

The recent fall is led by a reduction in the number of men and 25-55 year olds dying, but there are still rising deaths among older people and the number of deaths among women has remained high.

A clear link between deprivation and drug deaths also remains, although the reduction was fastest in the most deprived parts of Scotland.

Julie Ramsay, Head of Demographic Statistics at National Records of Scotland, said: “While drug misuse deaths have been rising over the last two decades, with a particularly sharp increase after 2013, today’s statistics show the biggest year-on-year decrease since the series began.”

Glasgow City has overtaken Dundee this year with the highest drug misuse death rate of all local authority areas, with 44.4 people dying per 100,000 population, compared with an average of 19.8 across Scotland as a whole.

The rate in Dundee was slightly lower at 43.1, followed by Inverclyde at 37.6.

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