The number of males dying from drug-related causes in Northern Ireland has increased by 98% in the last 10 years. The statistics show that 136 of the 16,036 deaths registered in Northern Ireland in 2017 were from drug-related causes. This is sixty per cent more than was recorded a decade ago (86) but lower than the total in 2015 (144), which was also the highest on record. Drug-related deaths continue to account for less than one per cent of total deaths registered in Northern Ireland each year. Seventy-four per cent (101) of the 136 drug-related deaths registered in Northern Ireland in 2017 were males. This is almost twice as many as recorded a decade ago (51). In contrast, female, drug-related deaths in 2017 have remained unchanged (35) when compared with the 2007 total.

As in previous years, the largest number of drug-related deaths occurred in those aged between 25 and 34 years (37%), with less than 4% occurring in those aged 65 and over. Thirty per cent (40) of drug-related deaths had one drug listed on the death certificate, while forty-six per cent (62) of deaths listed three or more drugs. 2017 saw four times more deaths where Pregabalin was listed on the death certificate, with numbers increasing from 8 in 2016 to 33 in 2017.

Eighty-one per cent of drug-related deaths were classed as drug-misuse deaths, compared to fifty-six per cent in 2007. Forty per cent of all drug-related deaths in 2017 involved the controlled drug, Diazepam, compared with twenty-four percent in 2007. The statistics also indicate that there are notably higher numbers of drug-related deaths in areas of deprivation across Northern Ireland. People living in the most deprived areas are four times more likely to die from a drug-related death than those in the least deprived areas.