Suspected drug deaths in Scotland: April to June 2025

Suspected drug deaths in Scotland: April to June 2025

1. Background

The Scottish Government has a National Mission to reduce drug deaths and improve the lives of those affected by drugs. This quarterly report presents Police Scotland management information to provide an indication of current trends in suspected drug deaths in Scotland.

2. Summary

There were 607 suspected drug deaths during the first six months of 2025. This was 3% (18) more than during the same period of 2024. Suspected drug deaths in Scotland remain at a high level.

3. Main points

Number of Police Scotland suspected drug deaths by quarter and year, January 2018 to June 2025

Note: Q1 is January to March, Q2 is April to June, Q3 is July to September, Q4 is October to December. Source: Police Scotland.

Between January and June 2025:

• There were 607 suspected drug deaths, 3% (18) more than in the same period of 2024.
• Males accounted for 78% of suspected drug deaths. This compares with 74% between January and June 2024.
• There were 136 suspected drug deaths of females, a decrease of 12% (18) compared to the same period in 2024.
• The majority (64%) of suspected drug deaths were of people aged between 35 and 54. This is broadly in line with previous periods.
• There were 17 suspected drug deaths in the under 25 age group, 23% (5) fewer than between January and June 2024.
• The Police Divisions with the greatest number of suspected drug deaths were: Greater Glasgow (133), Ayrshire (73) and Edinburgh City (60)

For quarter 2 of 2025, April to June 2025:

• There were 299 suspected drug deaths. This was 3% (9) fewer than the previous calendar quarter (January to March 2025) and 11% (30) higher than the same quarter in the previous year (April to June 2024).

Note that numbers of suspected drug deaths fluctuate from quarter to quarter. Care should be taken not to interpret movements between individual calendar quarters as indicative of any long-term trend.

There were 1,083 suspected drug deaths over the 12 months to June 2025, 9% (103) fewer than the 12 months to June 2024 (1,186).

More detail on the statistics presented above is available in the workbook presented alongside this report.

4. Methodology

The data in this report is operational information from Police Scotland who compile figures on the basis of reports from police officers attending scenes of death. This is management information and not subject to the same level of validation and quality assurance as official statistics. Accredited official statistics on drug deaths in Scotland are published annually by National Records of Scotland.

More information on definitions, data sources, methodology and interpretation of the data, including the historical relationship between suspected drug death figures and drug misuse death statistics, can be found in the Methodology Annex.

5. Next update

Public Health Scotland (PHS) compile a Rapid Action Drug Alerts and Response (RADAR) Quarterly report of drug-related indicators to inform action to prevent drug harms and deaths. This includes weekly data on suspected drug deaths from Police Scotland. The next RADAR publication is due for release in October 2025.

The next ‘Suspected drug deaths in Scotland’ report covering deaths to September 2025 will be published in December 2025.

6. Accessing help and support for problem drug use

If you or anyone you know is affected by drug use, support is available via the following organisations:

If you or anyone you know is affected by drug use, support is available via the following organisations:

• Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol & Drugs
• Know the Score
• With You
• Scottish Drug Services Directory

Correspondence and enquiries

For enquiries about this publication please contact:

Population Health Analysis Unit Health & Social Care Analysis E-mail: HSCAnalysisHub@gov.scot

For general enquiries about Scottish Government statistics please contact: Office of the Chief Statistician E-mail: statistics.enquiries@gov.scot

Scottish Government welcomes feedback and suggestions on statistical products - please contact statistics.enquiries@gov.scot to share your views.

Suspected drug deaths in Scotland: Methodology