Scotland’s drug deaths rise to 1,133, driven by men
Scotland has a higher rate of drug-induced deaths than any country reported by the European Union Drugs Agency, with cocaine now implicated in more than half of all cases, National Records of Scotland said.
Drug deaths in Scotland rose by 11% to 1,133 in 2025, driven by a rise among men while deaths among women fell, National Records of Scotland (NRS) has said.
The figures, published on 23 September 2026, cover deaths registered during 2025 — an average of just over three a day.
There were 830 drug deaths among men, 19% more than in 2024. Among women the number fell 5%, to 303.
The 131 extra deaths among men more than account for the overall rise of 116, the figures show.
Alcohol and Drugs Minister Maree Todd, visiting In Cahootz, a Glasgow project supporting people affected by substance use, said every life lost to drug harms was preventable.
“Against an increasingly toxic and unpredictable drugs supply, this rise is deeply concerning and unacceptable,” Todd said.
Cocaine is now implicated in more than half of all drug deaths in Scotland — 589 cases, or 52% of the total.
That is the highest number since the series began in 2008, and a rise of 23% on the previous year.
Nitazenes, a group of synthetic opioids, were implicated in 247 deaths — more than three times the 2024 figure. Most involved etonitazene, found in 215 deaths.
Opioids such as heroin, morphine or methadone remained the most commonly implicated drugs, present in 881 deaths, or 78% of the total.
On the information available, Scotland has a higher rate of drug-induced deaths than any country reported by the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA), NRS said. The EUDA advises caution, because coverage, toxicology data and coding practices differ between countries.
NRS uses a wider measure, drug poisoning deaths, for comparisons across the UK. On that basis Scotland’s rate in 2024, the latest year with figures for the whole UK, was 2.4 times England’s.
It was also 1.6 times Northern Ireland’s rate and 1.5 times that in Wales.
The average age of those dying has risen to 46. In 2000 it was 32.
The highest death rates were among people aged 35 to 44 and 45 to 54.
After adjusting for age, the rate in the most deprived areas was 15 times that in the least deprived, against a gap of around two for all causes of death.
Drug deaths rose in 20 council areas, fell in 10 and were unchanged in two. The sharpest rises were in East Ayrshire, up 27, and North Ayrshire, up 25. North Lanarkshire had the biggest fall, down 16.
NRS said NHS inform has a list of resources for people affected by drugs.
The Scottish government says the reserved Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 limits what it can do to reduce drug deaths, and it continues to call for greater powers over drug policy.