Suspected drug deaths in Scotland: July to September 2025

3. Main points

Figure 1: The rolling 12-month total of suspected drug deaths has increased over recent quarters

Number of Police Scotland suspected drug deaths, January 2018 to September 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 September 2025:

• There were 898 suspected drug deaths, 8% (65) greater than during the same period of 2024 (833).
• Males accounted for 76% of suspected drug deaths. This compares with 74% between January and September 2024.
• There were 212 suspected drug deaths of females, a decrease of 2% (5) compared to the same period in 2024 (217).
• The majority (66%) of suspected drug deaths were of people aged between 35 and 54. This is broadly in line with previous periods.
• There were 24 suspected drug deaths in the under 25 age group, 17% (5) fewer than between January and September 2024 (29).
• The Police Divisions with the greatest number of suspected drug deaths were Greater Glasgow (195), Ayrshire (98), Lanarkshire (92).

For quarter 3, July to September 2025, there were 291 suspected drug deaths recorded. This was 3% (8) fewer than the previous calendar quarter (April to June 2025: 299) and 19% (47) more than the same calendar quarter in the previous year (July to September 2024: 244).

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 1,130 suspected drug deaths over the 12 months to September 2025, the same number as were recorded over the 12 months to September 2024. After following a downward trend in 2024, the rolling 12-month total of suspected drug deaths has increased over recent quarters.

More detail on the statistics presented above is available in the supporting Excel workbook.