THE latest figures show that Scotland recorded 1172 deaths from drugs misuse in 2023, up 121 from the previous year.
It is the second-lowest number of drug misuse deaths since 2017, behind the tally recorded in 2022, figures from the National Records of Scotland have revealed.
We’ve broken down the number of deaths in every council area since 2020.
Glasgow City saw 246 drug deaths in 2023 while North Lanarkshire had 103 with 73 recorded in Fife.
The Orkney Islands only recorded one drug-related death in 2023, the same figure as the previous two years.
Fife meanwhile saw an increase of 14 in terms of drug-related deaths with 73 recorded in 2023 compared with 59 in 2022.
Phillipa Haxton, head of Vital events statistics, said: "Today’s statistics show an increase in drug misuse deaths over the last year. The longer term trend shows that drug misuse deaths are still much more common that they were over two decades ago.
"In the medium term, today’s figures represent the second lowest number of deaths in the last six years.
"The statistics also provide information about the people who are dying from drug misuse. The figures show us that males were twice as likely to have a drug misuse death as females. Most of the increase in the past year was due to male deaths.
"Glasgow City and Dundee City had the highest rates of drug misuse deaths while East Renfrewshire and East Dunbartonshire had the lowest.”
