Suspected drug deaths in Scotland: October to December 2025

5. Next update

This is the final release of the Scottish Government ‘Suspected drug deaths in Scotland’ management information publication.

Scottish Government statisticians are making this change because Public Health Scotland (PHS) now releases equivalent suspected drug death data within the harm indicators section of their Rapid Action Drug Alerts and Response (RADAR) Quarterly reports. Recent improvements, including the introduction of the Databelt system, mean that PHS is now able to provide the same detailed breakdowns—age, sex, and police division—that were previously only available in this Scottish Government publication. The Databelt system improves data accuracy, reduces human error and increases available police officer time for prevention and frontline duties. Moving to a single source of suspected drug death reporting removes duplication and supports clearer communication on drug‑related harms in Scotland.

RADAR's emphasis is on reporting drug-related information as rapidly as possible for the purpose of public health surveillance and the quarterly reports present weekly suspected drug deaths data approximately two months in arrears. The next release of RADAR will be in April 2026.

The next annual drug misuse deaths accredited official statistics publication from NRS is due to be released in Summer 2026.