> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.coios.me/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Scottish drug deaths rose 11% in 2025, with nitazenes linked to a fifth of fatalities
- URL: https://www.coios.me/scottish-drug-deaths-rose-11-in-2025-with-nitazenes-linked/
- Published: 2026-09-27T09:21:04.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-27T09:59:05.000Z
- Description: Drug-related deaths in Scotland rose by 11% to 1133 in 2025, with 247 (22%) linked to nitazenes, more than triple the 2024 figure, although routine postmortem testing for etonitazene began only in May 2025.
- Author: Daniel Ryan
- Tags: Weighing data and models, Revisions and new sources, Alcohol and drug use, United Kingdom, #statistics, #refines, #item, #source-2026-09

National Records of Scotland recorded 1133 drug-related deaths in 2025, 116 more than in 2024, leaving Scotland with the highest such rate in Europe. Nitazenes, synthetic opioids far more potent than heroin, were implicated in 247 deaths (22%), more than three times the 2024 count, with etonitazene alone linked to 215\. NRS notes that etonitazene entered routine postmortem testing only in May 2025.

*Why it is interesting: Documents a measured shift in the opioid supply towards nitazenes, while flagging that improved toxicology partly drives the apparent jump.*

Source

[BMJ, 25 September 2026](http://www.bmj.com/content/394/bmj-2026-100969.short?rss=1&ref=coios.me)

Type

Official statistics

Design

News report of National Records of Scotland annual drug-death registrations, 1133 deaths in 2025

Verdict

Refines prior evidence

Driver

[Revisions and new sources](https://www.coios.me/d-data-sources/)

Driver

[Alcohol and drug use](https://www.coios.me/d-alcohol-drugs/)