Over half of Britons (56%) are reported to be taking prescription drugs, with almost 3 in 10 (29%) of those taking more than one (YouGov). While prescription drugs are safe, effective and essential to many people’s every day health, it can leave some becoming dependent on their prescription.
To help you understand more about addiction issues around prescription drugs like opioids and benzodiazepines, we’ve compiled a number of statistics from governmental organisations, leading charities and scientific research into the topic.
Misuse & addiction
- In 2023/24, 3,872 new adults entered treatment for benzodiazepine problems. [1]
- A UK study found that over 600,000 adults had taken a benzodiazepine and/or Z drug non-medically at least once in their lifetime. [2]
- A qualitative study in Glasgow, Bristol and Teesside found 70% of people combining benzodiazepines/Z drugs with opioids showed heavy or uncontrolled co-use patterns. [3]
Prescribing & prevalence
- In 2023/24, 67 million items of dependency-forming medicines were dispensed in England, costing £370 million. [1]
- Of these, over 39 million opioid items were dispensed, costing about £280 million. [1]
- NHS England cut opioid prescriptions by 450,000 (an 8% reduction) in under four years. [1]
- 7.1 million patients were identified as receiving dependency-forming medications in 2023/24. [1]
- In the US, 16.3 million people misuse prescription drugs each year (approx. 6% of people aged 12+). [4]
- Of these, 9.7 million misuse painkillers, and 9.3 million misuse opioids. [4]
Treatment & support
- In 2023/24, 44% of all adults in substance misuse treatment were being treated for opiate problems. [5]
- In 2023, 2,551 deaths in England and Wales involved an opiate — nearly 47% of all drug-poisoning deaths. [6]
- In 2022/23, there were 9,690 hospital admissions for poisoning by drug misuse — a 24% decrease from the previous year. [7]
- In 2022, 60 million people worldwide used opioids; 450,000 deaths were attributed to opioid use. [8]
Demographics & inequality
- Women make up 61% of patients prescribed dependency-forming medications; men 39%. [1]
- People living in the most deprived areas were 57% more likely to be prescribed dependency-forming medicines than those in the least deprived areas. [1]
- 39% of people in treatment for opiate addiction have no home of their own. [5]
- 69% of those in opiate treatment had co-occurring mental health needs. [5]
