Age profiles of people in drug-related treatment vary widely across regions and subregions.

• Limited data suggest wide regional differences in the age distribution of people in treatment for drug use disorders.
• Globally, two main patterns emerge: in Central Asia and Transcaucasia, Western and Central Europe, Eastern Europe, and North America most people in drug-related treatment are aged 35 and older, while South America, Africa, Central America and the Caribbean, Near and Middle East, South-West Asia and South Asia, and South-Eastern Europe report higher proportions of younger people aged below 35 years .