Key findings
Nearly all of deaths associated to drug poisoning are registered following a coroner’s inquest and the textual content on the coroner’s dying certificates is used to code the entire substances concerned within the dying. 5,448 deaths associated to drug poisoning have been registered in 2023, the equal of 93.0 deaths per million individuals, and better than the speed recorded in 2022 (84.4 deaths per million, 4,907 deaths); the age-standardised mortality price for deaths associated to drug poisoning has risen yearly since 2012.
Drug misuse deaths
Deaths labeled as drug misuse should meet both one (or each) of the next circumstances:
The underlying trigger is drug abuse or drug dependence, Any of the substances concerned are managed below the Misuse of Medication Act 1971.
Of drug-poisoning deaths registered in 2023, 3,618 have been recognized as drug misuse, accounting for 61.8 deaths per million individuals; charges of drug misuse deaths proceed to be elevated amongst these born within the Seventies, sometimes called “Era X”, with the best price in these aged 40 to 49 years.
Slightly below half of all drug-poisoning deaths registered in 2023 have been confirmed to contain an opiate (46.8%; 2,551 deaths), whereas 1,118 deaths concerned cocaine, which is 30.5% greater than 2022 and represents the twelfth consecutive annual rise.
The North East continues to have the best charges of deaths regarding drug poisoning and drug misuse (174.3 deaths per million individuals and 108.5 per million, respectively); London had the bottom price for drug poisoning and drug misuse (58.1 deaths per million individuals and 41.0 per million, respectively).
In Wales, there have been 377 deaths associated to drug poisoning registered in 2023, the equal of 129.2 deaths per million individuals, that is greater than the speed recorded in 2022 (109.6 deaths per million, 318 deaths).
