Children and young people's substance misuse treatment statistics 2023 to 2024: report (applies to England)

Trends in treatment numbers
There were 14,352 children and young people (aged 17 and under) in alcohol and drug treatment between April 2023 and March 2024. This is a 16% increase from the previous year (12,418). However, the number in treatment is 41% lower than the peak of 24,494 in 2008 to 2009.

Trends in substance use
Cannabis remained the most common substance (87%) that children and young people came to treatment for.

Around 2 in 5 children and young people in treatment (39%) said they had problems with alcohol use, 9% had problems with ecstasy and 8% reported problems with powder cocaine use.

The number of children and young people in treatment for solvent and inhalant misuse, which includes using nitrous oxide, continued to increase. This has risen from 329 (2.9%) children and young people reporting a problem in 2021 to 2022, to 881 (6.1%) in 2023 to 2024. There was also a rise in the number reporting problems with ketamine, from 512 (4.5%) in 2021 to 2022 to 1,201 (8.4%) this year, which means more children and young people reported problems with ketamine than with cocaine for the first time.

Vulnerabilities among children and young people in treatment
Of the range of problems or vulnerabilities reported by children and young people starting treatment, the most common was early onset of substance use. This means they first started using substances before the age of 15, with 4 in 5 children and young people (80%) reporting this. This was followed by polydrug use (using multiple substances), which affected 56% of children and young people.

Girls tended to report some vulnerabilities more than boys, particularly self-harming behaviour (52% compared with 17%) and sexual exploitation (9% compared with 1.2%).

Mental health treatment need
Nearly half (49%) of children and young people starting treatment this year said they had a mental health treatment need. This has risen each year since 2018 to 2019, when 32% reported a mental health treatment need. A higher proportion of girls reported a mental health treatment need than boys (65% compared to 40%). Most children and young people (72%) who reported a mental health treatment need received some form of treatment, usually from a community mental health team.

Treatment exits
Of the children and young people who left treatment during the year 85% left because they successfully completed their treatment programme. This is higher than the previous year’s proportion (83%) and is the highest since records began in 2005 to 2006. The next most common reason for leaving treatment (11%) was dropping out before completing treatment, which is the same proportion as the previous year.

Age and sex of children and young people in treatment
There were 14,352 children and young people (under the age of 18) in contact with drug and alcohol treatment services between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024. Almost two-thirds were boys (62%), a similar proportion to the previous year. The median age was nearly 16 years old for girls and for boys.

The number of younger children (under 14) in treatment remained low (1,459, 10%)....

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Previous report: Young people's substance misuse treatment statistics 2021 to 2022: report.

There were 11,326 young people (people under the age of 18) in contact with alcohol and drug services between April 2021 and March 2022. This is a 3% increase from the previous year (11,013) but a 54% reduction in the number in treatment since 2008 to 2009 (24,494).