Suspected drug deaths in Scotland: April to June 2025
This quarterly report presents Police Scotland management information to provide an indication of current trends in suspected drug deaths in Scotland.
c. Relationship between Police Scotland suspected drug deaths and NRS drug misuse deaths
Police Scotland suspected drug deaths correlate very closely with the NRS drug misuse death statistics. Figure 3 shows that since the period ending in December 2018, the rolling 12-month Police Scotland figures have ranged from 3% below to 6% above the NRS drug misuse death figures.
Source: National Records of Scotland and Police Scotland
Note: Q1 is January to March, Q2 is April to June, Q3 is July to September, Q4 is October to December. Source: National Records of Scotland and Police Scotland.
Table 1 below shows how these measures have compared on a calendar-year basis between 2018 and 2023.
| Measure | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Police Scotland suspected drug deaths | 1,257 | 1,356 | 1,411 | 1,295 | 1,092 | 1,197 |
| NRS drug misuse deaths | 1,187 | 1,280 | 1,339 | 1,330 | 1,051 | 1,172 |
| Percentage difference between Police Scotland and NRS figures | 6% | 6% | 5% | -3% | 4% | 2% |
Source: National Records of Scotland and Police Scotland
Contact
Email: HSCAnalysisHub@gov.scot