Overdose and drug related deaths in young people in NI

Northern Ireland has the 2nd-highest rate of drug related deaths – 11.5 per 100,000 (NISRA 2022) – in the UK after Scotland. Queen’s University Belfast highlighted that young adults aged 25-34 account for the highest number of drug related deaths in Northern Ireland, doubling from 13.4 per 100,000 in 2011 to 27 per 100,000 in 2021.