The rate of drug-related deaths up again
Last week (23 October 2024), the Office for National Statistics published the annual drug-deaths statistics. These are officially called Deaths related to drug poisoning in England and Wales: 2023 registrations. As you will have seen from coverage in the mainstream media, the number and rate of drug-related deaths continue to rise and it is tragic to report that 5,448 people lost their lives to drugs in 2023, the highest number on record.
Key findings
The majority of deaths related to drug poisoning are registered following a coroner’s inquest and the text on the coroner’s death certificate is used to code all of the substances involved in the death. 5,448 deaths related to drug poisoning were registered in 2023, the equivalent of 93.0 deaths per million people, and higher than the rate recorded in 2022 (84.4 deaths per million, 4,907 deaths); the age-standardised mortality rate for deaths related to drug poisoning has risen every year since 2012.
Drug misuse deaths
Deaths classified as drug misuse must meet either one (or both) of the following conditions:
- The underlying cause is drug abuse or drug dependence,
- Any of the substances involved are controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.
Of drug-poisoning deaths registered in 2023, 3,618 were identified as drug misuse, accounting for 61.8 deaths per million people; rates of drug misuse deaths continue to be elevated among those born in the 1970s, often referred to as “Generation X”, with the highest rate in those aged 40 to 49 years.
Just under half of all drug-poisoning deaths registered in 2023 were confirmed to involve an opiate (46.8%; 2,551 deaths), while 1,118 deaths involved cocaine, which is 30.5% more than 2022 and represents the 12th consecutive annual rise.
The North East continues to have the highest rates of deaths relating to drug poisoning and drug misuse (174.3 deaths per million people and 108.5 per million, respectively); London had the lowest rate for drug poisoning and drug misuse (58.1 deaths per million people and 41.0 per million, respectively).
In Wales, there were 377 deaths related to drug poisoning registered in 2023, the equivalent of 129.2 deaths per million people, this is higher than the rate recorded in 2022 (109.6 deaths per million, 318 deaths).
Profile of people losing their lives
Gender
Men are more than twice as likely as women to die from drug poisoning. Among males, there were 127.6 drug-poisoning deaths registered per million in 2023 (3,645 deaths), compared with 59.8 deaths per million among females (1,803 deaths).
Age
In 2023, the highest rate of drug misuse deaths was found in those aged 40 to 49 years (147.3 deaths per million people). They are part of the age cohort often referred to as “Generation X”, born between the late 1960s and early 1980s, who have consistently had the highest rates of drug misuse deaths for the past 25 years.
The average age at death for drug misuse deaths in 2023 was 44.5 years for males and 47.5 for females. The average for males has been steadily increasing since the late 1990s and is now at a historic high, while the average for females has been relatively consistent between 1993 and 2023.
Substances
Information on the specific drugs involved in a death is not always available, therefore figures on drug misuse are underestimates.
For deaths registered in 2023, a total of 2,551 drug-poisoning deaths involved opiates; this was 12.8% higher than in 2022 (2,261 deaths). Opiates were involved in just under half (46.8%) of drug-poisoning deaths registered in 2023, increasing to 60.7% when we exclude deaths that had no drug type recorded on the death certificate. Heroin and morphine (often indistinguishable in toxicology testing) continued to be the most frequently mentioned opiates, with 1,453 drug-poisoning deaths mentioning either one of these substances in 2023.
There were 1,118 deaths involving cocaine registered in 2023, which was 30.5% higher than the previous year (857 deaths) and nearly ten times higher than in 2011 (112 deaths). In 2023, males accounted for 79.2% of the deaths involving cocaine (886 males compared with 232 females).
Given that drug use among school children seems to be on a downward trend, it is particularly frustrating that we seem unable to stem the tide of drug-related deaths. Whenever I present these grim statistics, I try to remember that each death represents a personal tragedy and a world of grief for people’s family and friends. We need to re-energise our attempts to reduce the number of future tragedies.
