-Automatic translation

In 2023, there were a total of 56 drug-related deaths in Iceland, of which 15 were suicides (intentional self-poisoning). Compared to the largest categories of causes of death, drug-related deaths are few in Iceland. The population is small, and small changes in the yearly number of drug-related deaths inevitably cause some fluctuations in the mortality rate.

It is essential to interpret the numbers of individual years with caution, as there may be a random fluctuation. To minimize fluctuations between years and highlight the long-term trend of drug-related deaths, it may be more appropriate to use averages of several years rather than the frequency of each year. When looking at the average of recent years per 100 thousand inhabitants, it can be seen that the average goes from 9.0 in 2014-2018 to 11.3 in 2019-2023.

When last year's figures are examined by gender, it can be seen that there were more drug-related deaths in men (35) than women (21). The most drug-related deaths were in the age groups 18-29 (15) and 30-44 (23). Of the 56 drug-related deaths in 2023, 34 were due to opioid poisonings and 22 were due to poisonings from other addictive and narcotic drugs and medicines.

You can read more about the registration of drug-related deaths and the interpretation of data on the Directorate of Health‘s web.

More informaiton
Kjartan Hreinn Njálsson, assistant to the Medical Director of Health
kjartan.h.njalsson@landlaeknir.is