16 Sep 2025
Research published today (16 September) by King's College London has found that more than 13,000 heroin and opioid deaths have been missed off official statistics in England and Wales, raising concerns about the impact on the government's approach to tackling addiction.
The research, shared exclusively with BBC News, found that there were 39,232 opioid-related deaths between 2011 and 2022, more than 50% higher than previously known.
The error has been blamed on the government's official statistics body not having access to post-mortem reports or toxicology results.
Data on specific drug deaths is a major driver of policy, and it is understood that the government is now working with coroners to improve the reporting of deaths.
The number of opioid deaths per million people in England and Wales has almost doubled since 2012, but this new study means the scale of the problem is likely to be even greater.
Researchers from the National Programme on Substance Use Mortality at King's used data from coroners' reports to calculate a more accurate estimate of opioid-related deaths. Opioids include drugs such as heroin that come from the opium poppy plant, as well as synthetically-made substances like fentanyl.
Dr Caroline Copeland, who attended Forward's media breakfast in April on drug deaths and led the new research, said drug policies "will not have the desired impact unless the true scale of the problem is known".
She added: "We need to alert coroners to the impact that not naming specific drugs as the cause of death has on the planning and funding of public health policies."
Mike Trace, CEO of the Forward Trust and former Deputy Drug Tsar, said that the publication of this research “does not come as a shock and is yet another wake-up call that we cannot be complacent.”
“This research has confirmed what we have known for some time, that due to the limitations in how drug-related deaths are recorded, the government's statistics do not reveal the full picture and are grossly underestimated.
“The publication of this research comes at a time when we are seeing more dangerous drugs entering supply chains and increased levels of addiction post-pandemic. This catastrophic public health crisis is not making the headlines it should be.
“These deaths are a tragedy for every single person who has lost their life and for their loved ones.
“Addiction is a serious mental illness that has a devastating impact on people’s lives. This must be recognised at all levels of government and society, and serious action taken to reduce the level of avoidable deaths.
“Most drug deaths are what we call deaths of despair – people who are lonely, they’re using substances in situations where they don’t have support or other people to protect them.
“Perceptions of addiction need to change. We need to build compassion and understanding around addiction and support people to ask for help without judgment, discrimination or stigma."
For further information and to arrange an interview, please contact Fiona McDonald on Fiona.mcdonald@forwardtrust.org.uk or 07485315614.
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