Norway: 342 overdose deaths in 2024

Inger Lise Hansen

30.10.2025 - In 2024, there were 342 drug-induced deaths recorded in Norway, a decrease from 391 the previous year, Actis writes. However, there has still been an increase in these deaths since 2012.

The Norwegian Directorate of Health reports that heroin is, for the first time, not among the three most common substances involved in drug-induced deaths in Norway. New figures from the Cause of Death Registry show that other opioids, such as morphine, oxycodone, and codeine, now account for the largest share of deaths (36%). They are followed by synthetic opioids such as fentanyl and buprenorphine (19%), and methadone (15%).

A shift

The figures may indicate a shift in Norway’s drug situation, where medicines and synthetic substances are increasingly replacing heroin as the main cause of overdose deaths. In Oslo, heroin was still responsible for one in five deaths, but in counties like Rogaland and Vestland, the substance was almost absent as a cause of death in 2024.

“These numbers show that far too many people are still losing their lives to drug-induced overdoses. The new dynamic action plan for overdose prevention should help reverse this trend, but the state budget has not allocated any new funds for this work. Parliament must correct that during the budget negotiations,” says Inger Lise Hansen, Secretary General of Actis.

Causes of death

The causes of death are mainly accidental poisonings without intent (78%), while 14% were suicides and 8% were due to mental and behavioural disorders caused by substance use. This distribution has remained relatively stable over the past decade.

Three out of four are men

Those who die from drug-induced overdoses in Norway are on average around 45 years old, a figure that has remained fairly stable in recent years. Women who die are slightly older than men—almost 49 years compared to 44.5. There are also other gender differences: three out of four who died of an overdose in 2024 were men.

Geographically, Buskerud tops the statistics when adjusted for age and population. Oslo, Rogaland, and Vestland had the highest total number of deaths, but Vestland also saw the largest decrease from the previous year.

---

Source: Actis