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Drug use continues to fall among young people in Sweden

Folkhälsomyndigheten

12.02.2026 - Drug use continues to decline among young people in Sweden, while use among adults remains at roughly the same levels as in previous years. Drug-related deaths are also falling, according to a new report from Folkhälsomyndigheten.


The report, Den svenska narkotikasituationen 2025, describes trends in the drug situation based on Swedish authorities’ 2024 data submitted to EUDA. Among adults, around 4 percent report having used drugs at some point during the past year. Among young people, 4.8 percent of students in grade 9 report having used drugs at some point in their life. In upper secondary school year 2, the corresponding figure is 12.3 percent, the lowest level since the survey began in upper secondary school in 2004. The downward trend is clearest among boys, where the share has fallen steadily for several years in both age groups.


“We see that the positive trend continues, and that Sweden is below the European average when it comes to the share of young people who have used drugs at some point. Drug use among young people is also falling in Europe,” said investigator Nina Rehn-Mendoza, referring to the latest ESPAD school survey.


Drug-related deaths have also continued to decrease in Sweden. Between 2015 and 2024, they fell by 37 percent, with the largest decline among men. In 2024, there were 424 drug-related deaths (286 men and 138 women). Opioids were involved in about 90 percent of the deaths where contributing substances could be identified, and oxycodone was the most common opioid mentioned.


At the same time, aggregated statistics show an increase in drug seizures. In 2024, police and customs reported just over 44,000 drug seizures, an increase of almost 30 percent compared with 2023. The volume seized decreased for cannabis, but increased for amphetamine, cocaine, ecstasy, some synthetic opioids, and several controlled medicines such as tramadol and alprazolam. The report notes that large seizures point to increasing availability, and that prices remain low for most drug types, including controlled medicines.

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