Data applies to England. 

Trends in treatment numbers

• There were 290,635 adults in contact with drug and alcohol services between April 2022 and March 2023. This is a small rise compared to the previous year (289,215).
• The number of adults entering treatment in 2022 to 2023 was 137,749, which is higher than the previous 2 years’ figures (130,490 and 133,704). The numbers of people entering treatment was relatively stable from 2016 to 2017 up to 2021 to 2022.

Trends in substance use treatment

• Nearly half (48%) the adults in treatment were there for problems with opiates. Despite the number of people in treatment for opiate use slightly decreasing from last year (from 140,558 to 138,604), this remains the largest substance group. You can find more information about what the different substance groups are in the ‘People in treatment: substance, sex, age’ section.
• People in treatment for alcohol alone make up the next largest group (30%) of all adults in treatment. The number of those rose by 2% from the previous year (from 84,697 to 86,257) but this is lower than the peak of 91,651 in 2013 to 2014.
• There were increases in the other 2 substance groups (a 1% increase in the non-opiate group and 4% in the non-opiate and alcohol group). This follows a rise last year of 7% for the non-opiate group and 11% for the non-opiate and alcohol group.
• After seeing a decline in the previous 2 years, there has been a rise in the overall number of adults entering treatment for crack cocaine. This rise includes people who are using crack with opiates (18,832 to 20,158) and those who are using crack without opiates (4,711 to 5,444).
• People starting treatment in 2022 to 2023 with powder cocaine problems increased by 10% (from 21,298 to 23,529). This surpasses the previous peak number of 21,396 in 2019 to 2020.
• New entrants to treatment with cannabis problems increased again this year, which saw a 2% rise (from 28,263 in 2021 to 2022 to 28,845 this year). New entrants with benzodiazepine problems fell 6% (from 3,848 in 2021 to 2022 to 3,620 this year), after increasing every year since 2018 to 2019 up until 2021 to 2022.
• Although the numbers are relatively low, there was an increase in adults entering treatment in 2022 to 2023 with ketamine problems (from 1,551 in 2021 to 2022 to 2,211 this year). This is part of a trend in rising numbers entering treatment over the last 9 years. The total is now over 5 times higher than it was in 2014 to 2015.