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…
More countries perceived an increase in drug-related deaths in 2024 than a decrease.Toxicological findings reported by 66 countries suggest that opioids are by far the most common substance involved in direct drug-related deaths, with cocaine now ranking second after overtaking (albeit by a small…
Drug mixtures present on the drugs market may cause additional harms alongside those traditionally observed, due to issues such as user-unknown content, varying contents, the presence of harmful ingredients, or possible drug interactions, to name a few.New drug mixtures such as "tuci" pink cocaine…
Treatment coverage remains low globally, with strong regional and drug-specific differences.Only a small proportion of people with drug use disorders receive treatment, with coverage highest in Europe and lowest in Africa and Asia. Across all regions, the estimated treatment coverage is lower for…
The limited data available suggest that pathways into drug-related treatment and the types of treatment vary between regionsData from 61 countries suggest that pathways of referral vary by (sub)region: for example, in Africa, referral by friends and family or self-referral is most common, while in…
Global availability, coverage and accessibility of drug-related treatment varies across intervention types.Not all types of pharmacological treatment, psychosocial interventions and rehabilitation and aftercare are available in all countries. Opioid agonist maintenance therapy and opioid antagonist…
Data on specific population groups remain limited.The available information suggests higher levels of drug use, drug use disorders and injecting drug use among sex workers, people experiencing homelessness and those with severe mental illness compared with the general population, while these tend…
Men continue to make up the majority of people who use drugs, but gender differences vary by drug and region.In 2024, about three quarters of people who used drugs in the past year were men, though the share of women varies substantially by region and drug type. For example, only 8 per cent of…
Global opiate use has remained broadly stable, with slight declines in the prevalence of use.The number of people using opiates worldwide has remained stable over the last five years, while the annual prevalence of use declined slightly from 0.61 per cent in 2020 to 0.57 per cent in 2023 and 2024.…
Global opioid use has remained broadly stable, with strong regional differences in prevalence of use.The number of people who use opioids worldwide has remained relatively stable in the last five years, with the estimate for 2024 only slightly higher than the level in 2019.Prevalence of past-year…
Drug-related deaths continue to rise globally, with indirect causes accounting for most harm.The total global number of deaths directly or indirectly attributable to drugs continued to increase in 2023, although population-adjusted rates have grown more slowly, suggesting that the growth was in…
Global drug use continues to increase, driven by rising prevalence of use and population growth.An estimated 331 million people used a drug in the past 12 months in 2024, a 34 per cent increase since 2014 (with prevalence of use increasing by 20 per cent).Men account for the majority of users (249…
