Drug deaths in England and Wales highest since 1993

The number of drug-related deaths recorded in England and Wales in 2020 was the highest since records began in 1993.

In total, 4,561 deaths related to drug poisoning were registered - equivalent to a rate of 79.5 per million people.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said about half of these would have occurred in 2019, because of delays in registering deaths.

The majority will have occurred before the pandemic, it added.

The latest figures, which are published annually, show stark differences between men and women, and among different regions.

There were more than twice as many deaths among men as there were among women.

The highest rate of deaths relating to drug misuse was in the North East of England, where 104.6 deaths were recorded per million people, and the lowest was in London, where that figure was 33.1.

The total death toll amounts to a 3.8% increase on the figure for 2019, when 4,393 deaths were recorded.

Of the total deaths registered in 2020, 2,263 - around half - involved an opiate.

And 777 of the deaths involved cocaine - a rise of about 10% on 2019, and more than quadruple the number recorded in 2010.

Last week Scotland, which records figures separately, reported that more than 1,300 people died of drug misuse last year - the highest figure for a seventh year running.