Adults who used drugs in the last year, England and Wales
The share of adults aged 16 to 59 in England and Wales who used any drug, and any Class A drug, in the last year, in each year of the Crime Survey for England and Wales since 1995, with the estimated numbers, from the ONS.
Any drug
8.7%
Year ending Mar 2025 · an estimated 2,888,000 adults aged 16 to 59
Verified against source, 9 November 2026, 15:06 UTC- Any drug
- Any Class A drug
Source: Office for National Statistics. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Data table
27 periods, newest first
| Period | Any drug | Any Class A drug |
|---|---|---|
| Year ending Mar 2025 | 8.7% | 3.3% |
| Year ending Mar 2024 | 8.8% | 3.0% |
| Year ending Mar 2023 | 9.5% | 3.3% |
| Year ending Mar 2022 | Due to the suspension of the CSEW during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, data are not available for the years ending March 2021 and March 2022. | Due to the suspension of the CSEW during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, data are not available for the years ending March 2021 and March 2022. |
| Year ending Mar 2021 | Due to the suspension of the CSEW during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, data are not available for the years ending March 2021 and March 2022. | Due to the suspension of the CSEW during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, data are not available for the years ending March 2021 and March 2022. |
| Year ending Mar 2020 | 9.4% | 3.4% |
| Year ending Mar 2019 | 9.4% | 3.7% |
| Year ending Mar 2018 | 9.0% | 3.5% |
| Year ending Mar 2017 | 8.5% | 3.0% |
| Year ending Mar 2016 | 8.3% | 3.0% |
| Year ending Mar 2015 | 8.6% | 3.2% |
| Year ending Mar 2014 | 8.8% | 3.1% |
| Year ending Mar 2013 | 8.1% | 2.5% |
| Year ending Mar 2012 | 9.1% | 2.9% |
| Year ending Mar 2011 | 8.9% | 2.9% |
| Year ending Mar 2010 | 8.6% | 3.0% |
| Year ending Mar 2009 | 9.9% | 3.6% |
| Year ending Mar 2008 | 9.4% | 3.0% |
| Year ending Mar 2007 | 10.1% | 3.4% |
| Year ending Mar 2006 | 10.5% | 3.4% |
| Year ending Mar 2005 | 11.2% | 3.2% |
| Year ending Mar 2004 | 12.2% | 3.4% |
| Year ending Mar 2003 | 12.0% | 3.3% |
| Year ending Mar 2002 | 11.8% | 3.1% |
| Year ending Dec 1999 | 11.9% | 3.2% |
| Year ending Dec 1997 | 12.1% | 2.7% |
| Year ending Dec 1995 | 11.2% | 2.6% |
Source and licence
- Publisher
- Office for National Statistics
- Check it yourself
- https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/drugmisuseinenglandandwalesappendixtable
- Licence
- Open Government Licence v3.0 – Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Retrieved
- 9 November 2026, 14:51 UTC
- Raw files fetched
- https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/drugmisuseinenglandandwalesappendixtable/dataSHA-256 8b5201a3636d9ca6a8f71bcf5924a2b086fe34ab049ac8ca193b732364aad24d · 1,684 bytes
- https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/drugmisuseinenglandandwalesappendixtable/yearendingmarch2025/dataSHA-256 604a1fcd838d45ac2cb348f676158f51a242846466e9d2917777df11353445ac · 400 bytes
- https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/drugmisuseinenglandandwalesappendixtable/yearendingmarch2025/drugsmisuseappendixtablesyearendingmarch2025.xlsxSHA-256 38445674900bed0b373f04e073c862bc0878b9ee93eec8ed609dbf4245b4957f · 385,749 bytes
Verification
Verified against source, 9 November 2026, 15:06 UTC Run at 9 November 2026, 15:06 UTC; 54 of 54 figures matched the live source.
| Result | Check | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Pass | Provenance recorded | Office for National Statistics; Open Government Licence v3.0; retrieved 2026-11-09T14:51:29Z; 3 raw file(s) |
| Pass | Raw files match recorded SHA-256 | 3 of 3 files intact |
| Pass | Re-parsing raw files reproduces figures | 54 of 54 figures and the headline reproduced; the meta's accreditation and users and missing match |
| Pass | Figures are finite numbers | 54 figures, 0 invalid |
| Pass | Live source matches every figure | 54 of 54 figures match exactly after downloading 3 source file(s) again (3 byte-identical); the headline matches; the meta's accreditation and users and missing match |
| Pass | ONS edition is current | the yearendingmarch2025 edition counts at 2025-03-31, 588 days before retrieval (limit 700) |
| Pass | Class A is within any drug | 36 of 36 years' shares and numbers have any Class A drug no more than any drug |
| Pass | Source page answers | https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/drugmisuseinenglandandwalesappendixtable – HTTP 200 |
Notes
- Adults aged 16 to 59 in households who told the Crime Survey for England and Wales that they had used a drug in the last year; any drug includes cannabis, and a Class A drug includes cocaine, ecstasy, LSD, magic mushrooms, heroin and methadone. The ONS gives no figures for the years ending March 2021 and March 2022, when it suspended the survey during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, so the chart breaks there; to 1999 the survey covered every other calendar year, and each year to March since the year ending March 2002.
- The Office for National Statistics publishes these as accredited official statistics.