Scotland's drug deaths remain highest in Europe after 'heartbreaking' 12% rise

Scotland continues to have the highest number of drug-related deaths in Europe, with ministers there announcing they would step up efforts to tackle the problem following an “extremely worrying” 12% increase in deaths last year.

Health Minister Neil Gray said the Scottish Government was also working “hard to respond to the growing threat posed by highly dangerous, super-strong synthetic opioids such as Nitasene”, which were responsible for 23 deaths.

His comments came as new figures showed that 1,172 people will die from drugs in Scotland in 2023 – 121 more than last year.

Mr Gray said: “My deepest condolences go out to anyone affected by the loss of a loved one to drugs.

“This number of deaths remains extremely worrying and underlines why we will continue to do everything in our power to reduce drug-related harm and death.”

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross described the figures as “shocking and disgraceful”.

The Tory added: “Under the SNP’s leadership, drug-related deaths remain Scotland’s national disgrace.

“Behind this heartbreaking rise in drug deaths are families mourning the loss of loved ones and my thoughts are with them all.

“Scotland has by far the highest drug death rate in Europe and the SNP’s approach simply isn’t working.

“A few years ago, Nicola Sturgeon admitted that she had not lost sight of the need to deal with this emergency, but since then the number of deaths has continued to rise.”

Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour's health spokeswoman, said: “The SNP has promised to reduce drug deaths, but these worrying figures show how far it is from its promises.”

“Each of these numbers represents a human tragedy and a family that is undoubtedly still grieving today.

“The SNP government, still desperately trying to reverse its own historic cuts to alcohol and drug services, must stop breaking its promises to families.”

The increase in drug abuse deaths comes after a sharp decline in 2022, with the total falling 21% to 1,051.

According to the National Records of Scotland (NRS), which published the figures, 2023 will be the second lowest number of drug-related deaths in the last six years.

Phillipa Haxton, Head of Vital Statistics at the NRS, said: “Today’s statistics show a rise in deaths from drug misuse in the last year.

“The longer-term trend shows that deaths from drug abuse are still much more common than they were over two decades ago.”

While the number of drug deaths reached a record high of 1,339 in 2020, figures for 2023 showed that the rate of deaths from drug abuse last year was 4.2 times higher than in 2000, adjusted for age.

Glasgow City and Dundee City had the highest rates of drug abuse deaths in 2023, while East Renfrewshire and East Dunbartonshire had the lowest rates.

The NRS stated: “People in the poorest areas of Scotland are more than 15 times more likely to die from drug misuse than those in the least poor areas.”

Opioids – such as heroin and methadone – were responsible for 80% of all drug-related deaths last year.

However, the proportion of deaths involving benzodiazepines has increased from 26 percent in 2008 to 58 percent in 2023 – with the vast majority of these cases involving benzodiazepines sold on the street, the NRS report said.

Last year's figures also showed a 16% increase in drug deaths among men, with the number of men dying rising by 113 to 805 in 2023.

In addition, 367 drug-related deaths among women were registered, eight (2%) more than in the previous year.

Ms Haxton said: “The statistics also provide information about the people who die from drug misuse.

“Figures show that men are twice as likely to die from drug abuse as women. The increase last year was mainly due to deaths among men.”

Despite the rise in drug deaths last year, Gray insisted that the Scottish Government's “national mission” to tackle the country's drug death problem had “resulted in a lot being achieved in a short space of time”.

Visiting the Skylark IX Recovery Trust – a boat-building project in Dumbarton, West Dunbartonshire, which helps people with drug problems – the Health Secretary said the projects had been “delivered on an unprecedented scale” and were “making a real difference to people”.

He said: “We are taking a wide range of actions as part of our £250 million national drugs mission. This includes opening a pilot safer drug use facilities, working to open drug control facilities and expanding access to life-saving naloxone.

“We will also continue to improve access to inpatient rehab and are well on track to meet our target for additional accommodation options. We will also advance the implementation of medication-assisted treatment (MAT) standards to make treatment and support available more quickly.

“We have seen a 67% increase in funding from 2014-15 to 2024-25, delivering a record volume of over £112 million to Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs).

“Additional national mission funding and support has created momentum in local areas to provide services to save lives. We have now supported more than 300 grassroots projects, including the Skylark IX project in Dumbarton.”