Drug-Related Hospital Admissions in Scotland Hit 20-Year Low

Drug-related hospital admissions in Scotland have fallen sharply. New figures from Public Health Scotland (PHS) show the most significant drop in several years. The data, published in February 2026, suggests that harm caused by controlled substances is beginning to ease. Yet the picture remains deeply unequal.

The latest Drug-Related Hospital Statistics Scotland 2024/25 report recorded 10,185 drug-related hospital stays, down from 11,148 in 2023/24. The European Age-sex Standardised Rate (EASR) dropped to 192 stays per 100,000 population, compared to 212 the year before.

This is not a one-year blip. Drug-related hospital admissions have trended downward since 2020/21. Scotland appears to be shifting in how it manages and responds to substance-related harm.

Opioids remain the drug type most linked to drug-related hospital admissions in Scotland, but their grip is loosening. The opioid-related stay rate fell to 75 per 100,000 population in 2024/25, down from 91 per 100,000 the year before. That figure now matches 2006/07 levels, a 20-year low.

Opioid-related stays made up 38% of all drug-related stays. That is the lowest share ever recorded in this data series. In 2011/12, opioids accounted for 64% of all such admissions. Rates across most major drug groups have also fallen markedly since 2019/20.

The overall fall in drug-related hospital admissions extends to overdose stays too. Stays linked to drug poisoning dropped to 21 per 100,000 population, down from 27 per 100,000 in 2023/24. That matches the lowest rate recorded since 2006/07.

Sedatives and hypnotics topped the list of drugs linked to overdose admissions for the fifth year running. Opioids followed in second place. The drop in overall overdose rates closely tracked reductions in both categories.

Who Is Most Affected

People aged 35 to 44 years recorded the highest rate at 328 per 100,000 population. Those aged 45 to 54 followed at 292 per 100,000. The rate for 35 to 44-year-olds fell from 372 per 100,000 in 2023/24. It now sits at its lowest point in more than a decade.

Deprivation shapes this picture strongly. Nearly half of all patients, 49%, came from the 20% most deprived areas in Scotland. Public Health Scotland measures this using the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation. This concentration of harm in the most disadvantaged communities is a pattern that shows up year after year.

What the Numbers Tell Us

Scotland has long faced drug-related harm at a level that draws international attention. The fall in drug-related hospital admissions over recent years marks real progress. But people from deprived backgrounds still fill these wards at a disproportionate rate. Progress is not reaching everyone equally.

The dataset covers NHS Scotland hospitals from 1996/97 through to 2024/25. It is one of the longest-running records of its kind in the country. The next update is expected in Winter 2026.

Source: dbrecoveryresources