Drugs are used by many different people and in many situations.

The latest data from the Office for National Statistics: Drug misuse in England and Wales: year ending March 2024 tells us

• An estimated 8.8% of people aged 16 to 59 years (around 2.9 million people) reported using any drug in the last 12 months for the year ending March 2024. There was no statistically significant change, compared with the previous year.
• Around 3.0% of people (approximately 1 million people) reported using a Class A drug in the last 12 months. There was no statistically significant change from the previous year.
• Around 1.8% of people were frequent drug users (more than once a month); this is a decrease from the previous year (2.3%).
• Drug use was higher among people aged 16 to 24 years, with 16.5% reporting any usage. Again, there was no statistically significant change, compared with previous year.

On the prevalence of each drug:

• Although use decreased this year, cannabis continues to be the most common drug used which it has been since records began in 1995. In the last year, 6.8% of people aged 16 to 59 years (around 2.3 million people) and 13.8% of people aged 16 to 24 years reported having used the drug in the last year. Use among those aged 16 to 59 year decreased from 7.6% (around 2.5 million people) in the previous year.
• Powder cocaine use was similar to the pervious year. Powder cocaine use for adults aged 16 to 59 years was 2.1% and 3.8% for people aged 16 to 24 years.
• Ecstasy prevalence is similar to the previous year. In the year ending 2023 prevalence was the lowest since data were first collected (1.1%). In the year ending 2024, around 1.2% of people aged 16 to 59 years and 2.2% of people aged 16 to 24 years reported taking this drug in the last year.
• Nitrous oxide prevalence fell. In the last year, 0.9% of people aged 16 to 59 years had used nitrous oxide. This is a decrease, compared with the previous year (1.3%). 
• Hallucinogen use was similar to the previous year. There was no statistically significant change in the prevalence of overall hallucinogen (lysergic acid diethylamide and magic mushrooms) use in the last year in people aged 16 to 59 years (1.2%) or 16 to 24 years (2.9%), compared to the previous year. However, there was an increase in magic mushroom use in people aged 16 to 59 years, from 0.8% to 1.1%.

Prevalence of use in the last year was below one percent for all other individual drug types in the year ending March 2024, except for ketamine (2.9%) and new psychoactive substances (1.7%) in those aged 16 to 24 years.

There were no statistically significant changes for other individual drug types, compared with the year ending March 2023 except for crack cocaine use in those aged 16 to 59 years, which decreased to around 0.03% from 0.10%.

Young people

The NHS’s report Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use among Young People in England, 2023 surveyed secondary school pupils in England in years 7 to 11 (mostly aged 11 to 15). It found that 13% of pupils reported they had ever taken drugs (down from 18% in 2021), 9% had taken drugs in the last year, and 5% in the last month.

More reports on drug prevalence:

Drugs in the Time of COVID: Interim Report, (2021)
This interim report presents findings from the first 2,621 responses, received between the survey’s launch on the 9th April 2020 and the 17th September 2020 (inclusive); which captures drug purchases made in anticipation of and during the first national lockdown, as well as purchases made during the easing, and eventual lifting, of that first lockdown | Release, UK

Statistics on Drug Misuse, England, 2019
According to this report, there were 7,376 hospital admissions for drug related mental and behavioural disorders. 9.4% adults (16 to 59) had taken an illicit drug in the last year, whereas 20.3% of young adults (16-24) had taken an illicit drug in the last year. There were 2,917 deaths related to poisoning by drug misuse | NHS Digital, UK

For international perspectives see:

ESPAD Report 2019 (Published Nov 2020)
The report is based on the findings of a 2019 survey of 15- to 16- year-old students in 35 European countries and provides a unique insight into substance use and other forms of risk behaviour. It includes comparable data on illicit drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, e-cigarettes and social media as well as gaming and gambling | ESPAD and EMCDDA, Portugal

The World Drug Report 2019
Globally, some 35 million people are estimated to suffer from drug use disorders and who require treatment services. The Report also estimates the number of opioid users at 53 million, up 56 per cent from previous estimates, and that opioids are responsible for two thirds of the 585,000 people who died as a result of drug use in 2017. Globally, 11 million people injected drugs in 2017, of whom 1.4 million live with HIV and 5.6 million with hepatitis C | UNODC, Switzerland

Global Drug Survey 2019 (PDF)
Key findings from this year’s report into global drug trends | GDS, UK

European Drug Report 2018
Revealing the latest drug market trends and the factors driving them. Also looks at the most recent developments in drug prevention, treatment and policy. | EMCDDA, Portugal

Latest wastewater data reveal drug-taking habits in over 70 European cities and an increase in the detection of stimulants, 2019
The latest findings from the largest European project in the emerging science of wastewater analysis are presented today by the Europe-wide SCORE group, in association with the EU drugs agency (EMCDDA) | EMCDDA, Portugal

Updated December 2024