Cocaine deaths up 30% in a year and ten times higher than 2011, as fatalities from all drugs also soar
23 October 2024, 12:22
The number of people who died in England and Wales after taking cocaine was ten times higher in 2023 than 2022, according to the latest figures.
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Some 1,118 deaths involving cocaine were registered in 2023, compared to 857 in 2022, and 112 in 2011, according to the Office for National Statistics.
In contrast, the population of England and Wales increased by about 9% from 2011-2023, and by about 1% from 2022-2023.
Nearly 80% of the deaths linked to cocaine in 2023 were men.
Deaths from all drugs increased to 5,548 in 2023, up from 4,907 in 2022. The death rate from drugs has increased every year since 2012, and in 2023 was double the level 11 years previously.
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Opiates were involved in nearly half of drug deaths in 2023.
A total of 2,251 people died after taking opiates such as heroin and morphine in 2023, an increase of 13% on the previous year.
People from the north-east of England were more likely to die from taking drugs than residents of any other region. Londoners were the least likely.
The rate of drug deaths rose in Wales year-on year, with 377 deaths related to drug poisoning registered in 2023, compared to 318 deaths in 2022.
Men born in the 1970s - members of 'Generation X' were the most likely age and gender cohort to die from taking drugs.
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Greg Ceely, head of population health monitoring at the ONS, said: "The number of drug poisoning deaths registered in England and Wales in 2023 increased by 11% compared to 2022 and is the highest since our records began in 1993. This continues a trend of drug deaths increasing each year since 2012.
"Around half of the deaths involve an opiate, such as heroin or morphine. We saw a large rise in the number of cocaine deaths, which account for a fifth of all deaths related to drug poisoning in 2023.
"Men born in the 1970s, often referred to as 'Generation X', continue to see the highest rate of drug related deaths."
Clare Taylor, chief operating officer at drug treatment provider Turning Point, said: "These statistics - the highest number since records began - highlight, yet again, the urgent need to seriously address the drug related deaths crisis.
"All drug related deaths are preventable, and our thoughts are with anyone who has lost someone."
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She said synthetic opioids - which are lab-produced and are hundreds of times stronger than heroin - are "increasingly being detected in the drug supply which is particularly concerning and putting many more people at risk of accidental overdose".
ONS data showed there were 52 deaths registered involving nitazenes - synthetic opiods - in 2023, up from 38 the previous year.
She called for better availability of services where drugs can be checked for purity and contaminants and greater provision of the opioid overdose reversal drug, Naloxone.
She added: "The increased deaths from cocaine use (nearly ten times higher than in 2011) is alarming and its vital that services provide advice and support for individuals."
The ONS said that due to delays in registering deaths, more than half of the deaths reported in their latest data for 2023 happened in previous years.
