Scotland drug deaths: Fatal overdose deaths fall in 2022

This is the lowest number of deaths recorded since 2017. 

EXPLAINER: Drug deaths - where do we stand as new figures prepare to drop? 

It comes after the report last year showed that drug deaths had fallen by nine between 2020 and 2021 - a figure which was too low to be considered statistically significant. 

The latest figures suggest that Scotland's drug deaths crisis may have turned a corner, after rapidly increasing over the past decade. 

Belinda Phipps, chief executive at drug recovery charity, With You, said Scotland was "making progress" but that this "isn’t happening on a large enough scale or with enough urgency". 

She added: "We know that people are using these drugs because of underlying trauma and mental health issues; they are looking for a way to numb painful feelings."

Alex Feis-Bryce, CEO of the Transform Drug Policy Foundation, said: “It’s hugely reassuring to see the numbers go down but they are still far too high. Each one of these deaths is an avoidable tragedy."

Between 1996 and 2013, there was a steady rise in fatal drug poisoning deaths in Scotland, from 244 to 527, before accelerating dramatically to a peak of 1,339 in 2020.

The figures for 2022 are the first significant decline since the rapid increase in deaths began in 2013 (Image: NRS)

NRS cautioned that the drug death rate in Scotland remains 3.7 times higher than it was in the year 2000, after adjusting for age, and nearly three times higher than the UK average in 2021. 

Drug death rates in Scotland are also much higher compared to Europe, which measures them in the 15-64 age group only: in 2022, the rate for Scotland was 248 per million compared to 79 per million Finland as of 2021 - the most recent year for which European data is available.

The figures also show that people living in the most deprived areas of Scotland are now 16 times more likely to die from a fatal drug overdose compared to those living in the most affluent communities. 

This is up from 15 times in 2021, and 10 times in 2001. 

After adjusting for varying age profiles, people living in the most deprived 20 per cent of postcodes in Scotland had a drug misuse death rate of 52.4 per 100,000 versus 3.3 per 100,000 in the most affluent areas (Image: NRS)

Julie Ramsay, head of demographic statistics at NRS, said: “While drug misuse deaths have been rising over the last two decades, with a particularly sharp increase after 2013, today’s statistics show the biggest year on year decrease since the series began.

“The statistics provide some insight into the people who are most likely to die from drug misuse.

“Those living in the most deprived areas of Scotland are almost 16 times as likely to die from drug misuse compared to people living in the least deprived areas.

“Males are twice as likely to die from drug misuse than females, however the fall in deaths in 2022 was much larger for males than for females.

“The age profile of drug misuse deaths has become older over time, the average age of people who died from drug misuse deaths has increased from 32 in 2000 to 45 in 2022."

READ MORE: Spike in deadly synthetic opioid drugs detected in Scotland 

In 2022, there were 359 drug misuse deaths among females - a year-on-year decline of 10% - and 692 deaths among males, a fall of 26%.

The cities of Dundee and Glasgow continue to record the highest rates of drug deaths per 100,000, after adjusting for the age profile of their populations. 

In 79% of all drug misuse deaths in 2022, more than one drug was implicated in the death. 

Of the 1,051 deaths recorded last year, 867 (82%) involved opiate/opioid substances - mainly heroin/morphine or methadone. 

Main drugs found in post-mortems following a drug misuse death in 2022 (Image: NRS)

There had been fears that an increase in the trade of ultra-strong synthetic opioids, such as nitazenes or fentanyl, would drive an increase in drug deaths.

It follows a Taliban-led crackdown on poppy-growing in Afganistan, which has traditionally been the main source of heroin in Europe.  

There were 601 deaths where benzodiazepines - a form of tranquiliser - were implicated.

These mostly related to so-called "street benzos", such as etizolam, but there were also 190 deaths involving prescribable benzodiazepines which are usually used to treat anxiety or insomnia. 

READ MORE: Police Scotland seize record levels of 'street valium' 

In addition, cocaine was identified in 371 post-mortems for drug deaths, along with gabapentin/pregablin in in 367 cases. 

There were 22 drug deaths involving ecstasy-type pills, 28 with amphetamines, and 117 where alcohol was detected. 

Scottish Labour Health Spokeswoman, Jackie Baillie, said: “The fact that we are still seeing such shockingly high levels of drug deaths in Scotland is a national tragedy.

“That progress is being made is welcome, but for many it will be too little too late."

The Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross urged the Scottish Government to embrace his party's Right to Recovery Bill, adding that Scotland  remains the "drugs-death capital of Europe by an enormous and alarming distance".