Main points:

• In 2025, there were 1,133 drug use deaths registered in Scotland, an increase of 11% (116 deaths) compared with 2024.
• Drug use deaths have increased over time. The number has fluctuated in the last five years but remains lower than the highest point in the series in 2020 (1,339 deaths).
• There were 21.4 drug use deaths per 100,000 people in 2025, after adjusting for age. This is four times as high as when the series began in 2000.
• The rate of male drug use deaths was around three times the rate for females in 2025. The latest increase was driven by an increase in male deaths (19% or 131 deaths) while female deaths decreased (by 5% or 15 deaths).
• The age profile of drug use deaths has become older over time. The average age of drug use deaths has increased from 32 years in 2000 to 46 years in 2025. Age groups 35 to 44 and 45 to 54 continue to have the highest rates of drug use deaths.
• In 2025, the rate of drug use deaths in the most deprived areas of Scotland was 15 times as high as in the least deprived areas. In contrast, the rate is around two times as high for all causes of death.
• Over the latest year, the number of drug use deaths increased in 20 council areas across Scotland, decreased in 10 areas and was unchanged in two areas.
• The rate of drug use deaths was higher than the Scotland average in Glasgow City, Dundee City, North Ayrshire, Inverclyde, West Dunbartonshire, and East Ayrshire (measured over the five-year period 2021 to 2025).
• Opiates/opioids continued to be the most common type of drug implicated in drug use deaths. They were implicated in 78% of drug use deaths in 2025 (881 deaths).
• Cocaine was implicated in over half of the drug use deaths in 2025 (52% or 589 deaths). This is the highest number since the series began in 2008, and an increase of 23% (110 deaths) from 2024.
• Nitazenes, a group of potent synthetic opioids, were implicated in more than one in five drug use deaths in 2025 (22% or 247 deaths). Etonitazene was the most common nitazene, implicated in 215 drug use deaths.