Last year, 725 people died from drug and drug poisoning, a decrease of almost 15 percent compared to 2023, according to statistics from the National Board of Health and Welfare.
The statistics on the 725 deaths include both overdoses, suicides and poisonings where the intent could not be determined. Poisoning accidents and suicides were the most common, accounting for 42 and 40 percent of deaths in 2024, respectively.
A group of substances that has recently emerged are nitazenes, synthetic pain-blocking opioids that are sometimes compared to fentanyl. 30 deaths in 2024 were linked to nitazenes, which is double the number compared to 2023.
As previous statistics have shown, mental illness is common among people who die from drug and alcohol poisoning. A significant proportion of individuals who died in 2024 had contact with healthcare for mental health problems in the year before death.
