Drug deaths rise 11% as Scottish figures remain worst in Europe
Drug-related deaths in Scotland increased by 11% in 2025, reaching a total of 1,133 fatalities. This rise continues a decade-long trend that has resulted in over 11,000 deaths, maintaining Scotland's position as having the worst drug fatality rate in Europe. Criminal gangs are exacerbating the crisis by mixing powerful synthetic opioids like nitazenes with common drugs such as heroin and cocaine.
- ▪Drug-related deaths in Scotland rose to 1,133 in 2025, an increase of 116 from the previous year.
- ▪The age-adjusted death rate for 15-64 year olds was 277 per million, significantly higher than the next highest European rate of 112 per million in Estonia.
- ▪Criminal activity involving the mixing of synthetic opioids such as nitazenes with existing drugs has hampered efforts to save lives.
- ▪More than 11,000 drug-related deaths have occurred in Scotland over the past decade.
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| Original publisher | BBC News — UK |
| Canonical URL | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cmwyz2pvw058o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss |
| Publication time | Wed, 23 Sep 2026 08:37:02 GMT |
| Retrieval time | 2026-09-23T08:39:30.548Z |
| Last seen | 2026-09-23T08:39:30.548Z |
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Drug deaths rise 11% as Scottish figures remain worst in EuropeByJames CookScotland editorPublished23 September 2026, 09:32 BSTUpdated 2 minutes agoDeaths related to illicit drugs rose by 11% in Scotland last year to 1,133 as the country struggles to tackle the worst fatality rate in Europe.National Records of Scotland (NRS) said the figure for 2025 was 116 higher than the previous year, bringing the total deaths in a decade to more than 11,000.After adjusting for age, there were 21.4 drug-related deaths per million people.NRS defines drug-related deaths as those where the underlying cause was drug poisoning, a controlled substance was in the body at the time of death, and drug use led directly to the death.Efforts to save lives over the past year have been hampered by criminal gangs…
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