Reports

Annual profile for substance misuse 2023 to 2024

Authors: Savannah King, Rick Lines

Published on: 12th March 2025

All Wales/National
Annual

Introduction

Annual statistical report on alcohol and drug use from health, social care, education, and criminal justice services datasets in Wales.

This statistical report provides a summary of routinely reported substance misuse related data currently available for Wales. Evidence is drawn from a number of data sources including Digital Health and Care Wales, Harm Reduction Database (HRD) Wales, Welsh National Database for Substance Misuse (WNDSM), Office for National Statistics (ONS), Local Authority Education services and Home Office data.

This report is intended for use alongside the Welsh Government Substance Misuse report on treatment data for the same period to provide a complete profile on the scale and nature of substance misuse, both drugs and alcohol, in Wales.

As in previous years, the report is structured to better explore the evidence relating to substance misuse over the life course, from prenatal and maternal use of drugs and alcohol, through to substance misuse in older adults. The profile will also evidence geographic variations in the health harms related to both drugs and alcohol in terms of hospital admissions, disease rates and deaths, as well as trends over time.

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The annual profile for substance misuse 2023-24

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