The number of people who died in Lanarkshire while homeless has fallen, according to a new report.
Statistics released by National Records of Scotland (NRS) show that the estimated death rates (per million people) of people experiencing homelessness in North Lanarkshire during 2021 was down to 52 from 83 the previous year.
And in South Lanarkshire the number had more than halved, from 103 in 2020 to 51 last year.
The actual number of people identified as homeless who died in North Lanarkshire in 2021 was 12, in South Lanarkshire 11 deaths were recorded, that's down from 18 and 21 respectively.
But in both council areas the number of estimated deaths was slightly higher for both 2020 and 2021.
Across Scotland an estimated 250 people died while experiencing homelessness in 2021, according to the new NRS figures, slightly down on the 256 the previous year.
Of those 250 a total of 222 were identified as definitely homeless.
Midlothian, Glasgow City, and the City of Edinburgh had the highest rates of homeless deaths in the country, while Na h-Eileanan Siar, Orkney Islands, Perth and Kinross, and Stirling council areas recorded none.
More than four out of five of those who died were male and 60 per cent were aged under 45. It was estimated that 17 of those who died were aged between 15 and 24 years old. The average age of those who died is 42.7 years.
It’s also estimated that 127 of the deaths were caused by drug-misuse, 17 were alcohol specific, and 23 probable suicide.
However, it should be noted that some deaths may be included in more than one category.
Julie Ramsay, head of vital events at NRS, said: “Drug-misuse deaths of people experiencing homelessness fell in the past year for the first time, from 151 to 127, but it was still the cause of over half of all deaths for people experiencing homelessness in 2021.
“As in previous years, the death rate of males is much higher than that of females. 81 per cent of deaths in 2021 were male and 19 per cent were female.
"The age profile of females was younger, with 72 per cent of those who died being under the age of 45.”
The estimated number of people dying while experiencing homelessness is higher than in 2017, the first year that NRS collected this data.
Similar statistics exist for the other nations of the UK but they are not considered to be comparable.
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