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The rate of drug poisoning deaths in England and Wales fell in 2025 for the first time in 13 years, data published by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) show.
In its annual report on drug deaths, published on 4 November 2026, the ONS revealed that 5,519 deaths related to drug poisoning were registered in 2025, which is 46 fewer deaths than in 2024, when there were 5,565 registered deaths.
The drug poisoning deaths rate fell from 93.9 to 92.4 deaths per million people, which had risen for 12 consecutive years before this, the report showed.
It also highlighted that deaths related to drug misuse, which involves factors such as drug dependence or controlled drugs, also fell, from 63.1 to 60.6 deaths per million, with 3,615 deaths registered in 2025.
People aged 40–49 years had the highest death rate, at 141.4 deaths per million, the report noted.
The ONS also explained that for the first time since the series of reports began in 1993, cocaine was the most frequently mentioned specific substance, which was involved in 1,233 deaths. Cocaine-related deaths were down slightly from 1,279 deaths in 2024 but more than eight times the 144 deaths the drug was involved in during 2010, it added.
The report underscored that cocaine overtook heroin or morphine as the most frequently mentioned specific substance, which fell from 1,415 deaths in 2024 to 1,210 deaths in 2025.
Opiates and opioids remained the most common substance group, which were mentioned in 2,324 deaths in 2025 compared with 2,621 deaths in 2024, it continued.
The ONS figures also showed that deaths involving nitazenes — a group of synthetic opioids — fell from 195 to 150 deaths. The figure is still almost three times that recorded in 2023, with 52 deaths, while protonitazene was the most frequently mentioned nitazene in 2025, the report said.
The trend differs from Scotland, where National Records of Scotland (NRS) figures published in September 2026, showed that drug use deaths rose by 11% in 2025 to 1,133 deaths, which represents 116 more deaths than in 2024. Nitazenes were implicated in 247 deaths in Scotland, in contrast with the fall seen in England and Wales, NRS data highlighted.
The ONS report noted that the north east of England again had the highest rate of deaths among English regions, at 135.2 deaths per million — although this was down from 167.6 deaths per million in 2024 — while London had the lowest, at 58.3 deaths per million.
The rate of deaths in Wales was 141.3 per million people, compared with 89.5 per million in England, the report said.
It also mentioned that nearly one-quarter (22.5%, n=1,244) of drug poisoning deaths in 2025 had no specific substance recorded, so figures for individual substances may be underestimates. Almost two-thirds (62.7%, n=3,460) of deaths registered in 2025 occurred in earlier years, owing to delays linked to inquests, the report showed.
Commenting on the report, Scott Barnes, chief executive officer of Addictions North East, a counselling centre based in the north east of England, said: “While any reduction in drug-related deaths is encouraging, the north east continuing to record the highest rate in England shows the scale of the challenge we still face. Pharmacists and pharmacy staff are often on the frontline and can play a vital role in helping people access support.
“Alongside harm reduction measures, we must continue to invest in recovery pathways that support long-term abstinence, including 12 Step Fellowships and peer recovery communities. At Addictions North East, we see every day that recovery is possible, and people can and do go on to rebuild their lives.”
On 12 October 2026, The Pharmaceutical Journal reported that Scotland’s first drug-checking service, planned for Glasgow, was due to open in October 2026 but has since been delayed.
England saw its first permanent drug-checking service open in Bristol in 2024 by charity The Loop, in partnership with Bristol City Council and Bristol Drugs Project. More drug-checking services have since opened in community settings across London, with pharmacist volunteers taking part.
