Prevalence of problem drug use (rate per 1,000 for ages 15-64 years) in the EU-27 (2001-2005) (source: EMCDDA, 2007)

Countries without available data are not shown.

¹ Interval is a 95% confidence interval

² Latvia: the original study used 'all ages' as the age range, the rate was adapted to ages 15-64; Finland: the original age range of study was 15-55, rate was adapted to 15-64.

Remarks

‘Problem drug use’ is defined by the EMCDDA as ‘injecting drug use or long duration or regular use of opioids, cocaine and/or amphetamines’. This definition specifically includes regular or long-term use of prescribed opioids such as methadone but does not include their rare or irregular use nor the use of ecstasy or cannabis.

Available estimates are improving in number and quality, but there are still many problems to be solved. There is no single method that can be applied in all the countries to give truly comparable results and even if a standard method such as capture-recapture can be used at local level, available datasets often differ so much that it would be difficult to compare results across countries.

Comparability problems also stem from differences in the exact definition of the estimated target group, due to differences in drug use patterns between countries. Most EU countries were able to produce national estimates of problem drug use using the agreed definition of problem drug use by 2005, although estimates of injecting drug use remain scarce. Many of the available estimates are based on results from more than one estimation method, thereby adding to their reliability. (Source: EMCDDA - Problematic drug use population - Methods and definitions).

For original EMCDDA data see: Prevalence of problem drug use at national level (EMCDDA Statistical bulletin 2007)