Drug induced deaths in Europe in 2022, by country

In 2022, Ireland had the highest incidence of drug-induced deaths in Europe at 97 per million population. This was followed by Estonia at 95 deaths per million population, and 86 deaths per million in Norway. On the other hand, in Romania there were only two drug-induced deaths per million population in 2022.

Number of drug-induced deaths

There were nearly 6.4 thousand drug-related deaths reported in the EU in 2022. There was a steady increase in the number of deaths in the EU from only 3.9 thousand cases in 2013. When combined with Turkey and Norway, the number of drug-induced deaths in 2022 nearly reached seven thousand. This was the highest number of drug-related deaths recorded in the given period.

Drug deaths by gender and age

In 2022, 77 percent of drug-induced deaths reported in the EU were attributed to men. Half of the deaths that occurred among men were among those aged between 25 and 44 years. Similarly, the largest share of female deaths due to drug use was also reported in the same age group.