Original Summary

Deaths related to illicit drugs rose by 11% in Scotland last year to 1,133 as the country struggles to tackle the worst fatality rate in Europe. National Records of Scotland (NRS) said the figure for 2025 was 116 higher than the previous year, bringing the total deaths in a decade to more than 11,000. After adjusting for age, there were 21.4 drug-related deaths per million people. NRS defines drug-related deaths as those where the underlying cause was drug poisoning, a controlled substance was in the body at the time of death, and drug use led directly to the death. Efforts to save lives over the past year have been hampered by criminal gangs mixing powerful synthetic opioids such as nitazenes with existing drugs including heroin, cocaine and fake Valium pills. NRS said the increase had been driven by a rise in deaths of male drug users. This increased by 19%, while the rate of female deaths fell by 5%. The rate of drug-related deaths in the most deprived areas of Scotland was 15 times as high as in the least deprived areas. The average age of death has increased from 32 in 2000 to 46 years in 2025. When comparing Scotland with the rest of Europe, NRS measures the death rate among 15-64 year olds - which was 277 per million in 2025. The next highest rate in Europe was Estonia with 112 deaths per million in 2024, the most recent year for which figures are available from the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA). Scotland's death rate in 2024 was 246 per million. NRS says its methodology produces "similar" outcomes to EUDA's count of "drug-induced deaths", with the caveat that the two methods use slightly different lists of drugs. When comparing Scotland with the rest of the UK, NRS uses a wider measure of age-adjusted drug poisoning deaths. This includes all deaths where the underlying cause was listed as mental and behavioural disorders due to psychoactive substance abuse or poisoning by drugs whether accidental, intentional, of unknown intent or as a result of assault. The most recent comparable data are for 2024 and show that Scotland had an age-adjusted death rate of 216 per million compared with 91 for England, 140 for Wales and 135 for Northern Ireland. This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version. You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App . You can also follow @BBCBreaking on X to get the latest alerts.

中文概览

中文标题： 苏格兰毒品死亡人数上升11%，为欧洲最严重

苏格兰国家记录局称，2025年非法毒品相关死亡人数升至1133人，较上年增加116人，十年累计超1.1万。年龄调整后每百万人21.4例。犯罪团伙将硝西泮类合成阿片混入海洛因、可卡因和假安定片，阻碍救人。男性死亡增19%，女性降5%。最贫困地区死亡率是最富裕地区的15倍。与欧洲比较，15-64岁死亡率277/百万，远高于爱沙尼亚的112。

  • 情报分类：综合情报
  • 分类依据：公共卫生与社会新闻，不属于技术、商业、工作等类别，归综合。
  • 信息来源：英语新闻 / BBC News Top Stories
  • 发布时间：2026/9/23 16:48:24