Drug related death rates

Drug related deaths trend across Scottish cities
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The rate of drug-related deaths per 100,000 population in Scotland has been increasing since 2010 and has increased in all the Scottish cities. The rates of drug deaths in Glasgow and Dundee have been consistently higher than the Scottish average over the last 15 years.

Drug related deaths trend across the Glasgow City Region

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The rates of drug-related deaths have increased in all the Glasgow City Region local authorities in the last two decades. The rate of drug related deaths has been consistently higher in Glasgow from 2014 onwards. The rates of drug related deaths in Glasgow, Inverclyde, West Dunbartonshire, and Renfrewshire have been consistently higher than the Scottish average over the last 20 years.

Note

These data were taken from the annual drug death report published by National Records for Scotland.

Drug-related deaths are identified from death registrations and a specially-designed questionnaire completed by forensic pathologists. The forensic pathologists list the drugs and solvents identified for the deceased. For further details please refer to the above report.

Trends in rates of drug related deaths in Glasgow compared to other cities in the UK are presented in the Excess Mortality section.

This page was last updated in August 2022.