SCOTLAND does not have as many drug deaths as some of its neighbouring countries in Europe, but it outranks them all in terms of the number of deaths per population, figures suggest.
Analysis published on Wednesday by National Records of Scotland (NRS) shows how the level of drug deaths in Scotland compares with equivalent data across much of Europe.
The rate of drug-induced deaths is used for the comparison.
This is slightly different from drug-use deaths, which is the definition used by NRS in its calculation of the overall figures for Scotland.
There were 1133 deaths from drug use in Scotland in 2025, while there were 987 drug-induced deaths, which is a rate of 277 per million people.
This is higher than the rates in all other European countries included in the NRS analysis.
The findings are based on data compiled by the European Union Drugs Agency, which uses the definition of drug-induced deaths to compare rates across the EU, as well as Turkey and Norway.
The agency relies on estimates for some of its figures, while NRS uses detailed information on drugs involved in deaths in Scotland and records all substances involved for statistical purposes.
NRS said: “Better identification and recording of the drugs involved in deaths in Scotland may be a reason for the higher rate of drug-induced deaths in Scotland compared with other countries.”
Here are the latest figures comparing the rate of drug-induced deaths across a range of European countries.
Drug-induced deaths in Europe
When contrasting the level of drug deaths in Scotland with other parts of the UK, a further definition is used by National Records of Scotland to ensure a fair comparison.
This definition is drug poisoning deaths, which is the same used by the Office for National Statistics for deaths in England and Wales, and by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency for deaths in Northern Ireland.
The annual mortality rate of drug poisoning deaths in Scotland stood at 21.6 per 100,000 people in 2024, compared with 14.0 in Wales, 13.5 in Northern Ireland and 9.1 in England.
2024 is the most recent year for which comparable figures are available across the whole of the UK.
