Rise in drug-related deaths blamed for increase in UK mortality rate compared with other high-income countries
20 May 2025, 01:35
A dramatic rise in drug-related deaths is fuelling worsening UK health compared to other nations, a new Health Foundation report has revealed.
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The newly-released figures show a troubling trend in death rates in the UK when compared with 21 other high-income countries, as well as finding deep inequalities in health between different parts of the UK.
Drawing on new research commissioned from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, the data suggest improvements in UK death rates slowed down significantly in the 2010s, more so than in most of the 21 other high-income countries studied.
By 2023, female mortality rates in the UK were 14% higher than the median of peer countries, with male mortality rates 9% higher. The research reveals significant inequalities across the UK.
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all have higher mortality rates than England, with Scotland performing particularly poorly.
In 2021, only the US had a worse mortality rate than Scotland among the countries studied, while mortality rates were 20% higher in the North East and North West of England than in the South West.
The relative worsening of death rates among the working age population is particularly stark. In 2023, female mortality rates for people aged 25-49 were 46% higher than the median of the other countries studied, and male rates were 31% higher.
Only Canada and the US experienced a similar worsening of death rates among this age group during the 2010s.
Poorer working age health in the UK is leading to lower labour force participation and acting as a drag on growth. Among the top three causes of death for people aged 25–49, death rates for cancers and circulatory diseases improved between 2001 and 2019.
In contrast, death rates from external causes (deaths due to injuries, poisonings and violence) worsened, accounting for 70%-80% of the difference in UK death rates at this age compared to the median of the countries studied over this period.
The research found that this is being fuelled by a shocking rise in drug-related deaths, with the rate of drug-related deaths in the UK more than three times higher in 2019 than the average of peer countries. It also found stark geographic inequalities in drug-related deaths.
In 2019, the drug-related mortality rate among 25–49-year-olds in Scotland was around 4 times higher than in England. Within England, the drug-related mortality rate in the North East was 3.5 times higher for males and almost 4 times higher for females than in London.
With the UK's health comparing increasingly poorly with other high-income countries, the Health Foundation is calling for a new strategy to tackle health inequalities, alongside long-term action to rebuild the nation's health and promote economic recovery in areas of long run industrial decline.
Dame Jennifer Dixon, Chief Executive of the Health Foundation, said: “This report is a health check we can’t afford to ignore – and the diagnosis is grim.
"The UK is becoming the sick person of the wealthy world, especially for people of working age. While other nations moved forward, we stalled – and in some areas, slipped badly behind."
The soaring drug-related deaths in Scotland and the North East are not just tragic – they are symptoms of long-standing neglect, economic stagnation and policy failure.
It’s clear that sticking plasters won’t cut it: we need a bold, long-term health strategy that tackles prevention, inequality, and underinvestment in public health head-on. And in particular far more urgent and targeted action on drugs.
“Improvements are possible and urgently needed Improving the nation’s health is not a luxury – it’s a necessity for economic growth and social stability.”
