Overview

• National Records of Scotland reported 1,017 drug misuse deaths in 2024, a 13% drop from 2023 and the lowest total since 2017.
• The age-adjusted death rate stood at 191 per million in 2024, keeping Scotland at the top of Europe for a seventh year, with Estonia next at 135 per million in 2023.
• Opiates or opioids were implicated in 80% of deaths, benzodiazepines in 56% and cocaine in 47%, with cocaine-linked deaths holding at a record 479 for a second year.
• Most deaths were accidental poisonings (91%), men were more than twice as likely to die as women, and rates were highest in Glasgow, Dundee and Inverclyde with sharp deprivation gaps.
• Drugs minister Maree Todd cited expanded funding, treatment access, naloxone distribution, a safer consumption facility and plans for drug-checking, as opposition parties pressed for stronger action.