In News

Follow this topic

Bookmark

Record learning outcomes

A report published today by the Department of Health in Northern Ireland has revealed a slight fall in the number of people using substance misuse services in the country.

The report, drawing on figures from the Northern Ireland substance misuse database for 2024-25, said 3,889 people accessed services in the 12 months to March 31, 2025, compared with 3,974 the year before.

About 1,476 people in 2024-25 used alcohol abuse services while 1,299 accessed drug use services. The report said 1,114 people used alcohol and drug misuse services.

The most common drugs used by people seeking help were cannabis (49.4 per cent), cocaine (48.8 per cent), pregabalin (13.5 per cent) and benzodiazepines (11.7 per cent).

Most people on the database were male (67.8 per cent) compared with 32.2 per cent of females. More than a quarter of people accessing services for drugs only (28.3 per cent) and for drugs and alcohol (25.7 per cent) were female. For alcohol services only, the proportion of females was higher at 40.5 per cent.

Over two-fifths of people accessing treatment were aged 26 to 39 for both drug misuse services (45.3 per cent) and drug and alcohol misuse services (43 per cent). The report also said 72.8 per cent of people using alcohol misuse services only were aged 40 and over.

Nearly 60 per cent of people accessing services for drug misuse used drugs on a daily basis while 51.1 per cent who are treated for alcohol misuse drank alcohol daily.