Limited age-disaggregated data on people in drug-related treatment suggest great variations between regions in the age distribution of people in treatment for drug use disorders

Globally, there are two main patterns in the age profile of people in drug-related treatment, with some regions having most people in drug-related treatment in the age category 35 years of age and above (Central Asia and Transcaucasia, Western and Central Europe, Eastern Europe, and North America) and other regions having higher proportions of younger people, 35 years of age and below (South America, Africa, Central America and the Caribbean, Near and Middle East, South-West Asia and South Asia, and South-Eastern Europe).