Drug-related deaths Italy 2023, by region
During 2023, the Italian police reported 227 deaths from drug misuse across the country. This statistic breaks down this figure by region where these deaths occurred. According to the data, Veneto, Emilia-Romagna, and Tuscany, were the regions where the most drug-related deaths were recorded.
Drug deaths by age, gender, and type of drug
To heroin were attributed most of drug-related deaths in Italy, with 72 deaths out of 227 reported in 2023. The second most common drug that implicated deaths in Italy was cocaine, with 53 cases, while 63 drug misuse deaths were attributed to unknown substances in the same year. The majority of those who died because of drug misuse in this year in Italy were adults aged 40 years or older, with 118 and 23 deaths recorded among men and women in this age category, respectively. Since 2011, the number of deaths due to drug use have been significantly higher among men compared to women, although this figure has significantly decreased for men over time.
Treatment for drug addiction in Italy
As of 2022, there were over six hundred outpatient facilities in Italy that offered services for the treatment, prevention, and rehabilitation of people with drug addiction. These facilities served over 129 thousand people struggling with drug addiction, the majority of whom used opioids as their primary substance of abuse at 63 percent. The highest number of patients were aged between 45 and 49 years old, numbering 19,146 patients in total. This was closely followed by the age group from 50 to 54 years old, with 19,142 patients.
