More drug poisoning deaths in Wales were recorded in 2023 than 2022.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that 377 deaths related to drug poisoning were registered in 2023.

This equates to a rate of 129.2 deaths per million people, a significant increase from the 2022 rate of 109.6 deaths per million (318 deaths).

Greg Ceely, head of population health monitoring at the ONS, said: "The number of drug poisoning deaths registered in England and Wales in 2023 increased by 11 per cent compared to 2022 and is the highest since our records began in 1993.

"This continues a trend of drug deaths increasing each year since 2012.

"Around half of the deaths involve an opiate, such as heroin or morphine.

"We saw a large rise in the number of cocaine deaths, which account for a fifth of all deaths related to drug poisoning in 2023."

There were 5,448 deaths recorded from drug poisoning in England and Wales in 2023.