Contains key statistics and information about alcohol, illicit drugs, and prescription drugs used for non-prescribed purposes in NSW

Key statistics

In 2023 in NSW, around 3 in 10 (27%) of adults aged 18 years and over exceeded the Australian Alcohol Guidelines for adults (NHMRC Guideline 1), that is they drank more than 10 standard drinks a week, or more than 4 standard drinks on any one day.

Of substances other than alcohol and tobacco, cannabis (with self-reported use by around 8% of people aged 16 years and over in the last 12 months) was the most commonly used for non-medical purposes, followed by cocaine (3.5%) and MDMA/ecstasy (2.3%) in 2022-23.

There were over 78,000 total alcohol and other drug-related hospitalisations among NSW residents in 2022-23. Of these, over 52,000 hospitalisations were related to alcohol, and almost 35,000 to other drugs.

Of the hospitalisations related to other drugs, over 8,300 were related to methamphetamine, and over 7,700 were related to opioids in 2022-23.

The age-adjusted rate of total alcohol-related and alcohol-induced deaths decreased from a peak in 2019 of 17.7 deaths per 100,000 population to 14.5 deaths per 100,000 population in 2022.

The age-adjusted rate of other drug-induced and drug-related deaths among NSW residents decreased from 15.7 deaths per 100,000 population in 2019 to 10.0 deaths per 100,000 population in 2022.

In 2022, alcohol caused or contributed to over 1,300 deaths (total alcohol-induced and alcohol-related deaths), which was a decrease from over 1,500 deaths in NSW in 2019.

In 2022, all other drug use combined caused or contributed to over 800 deaths (total drug-induced and drug-related deaths), which was a decrease from over 1,200 total other drug use deaths in 2017.

Overview

There are significant economic, health and social costs associated with the use of alcohol and other drugs in Australia. These relate to ill-health and premature death, healthcare delivery, absenteeism and productivity loss, crime, imprisonment, and other costs. These issues affect individuals, families, and the community.

The alcohol and other drugs indicators relate to:

legal drugs such as alcohol and caffeine (tobacco and nicotine are presented separately on the smoking and e-cigarette use topic page)

illicit drugs, such as marijuana/cannabis, cocaine, MDMA/ecstasy, methamphetamine, and heroin

prescription medicines that may be used for non-prescribed purposes, such as opioid analgesics, and benzodiazepines

drug-related harms, including substance-use disorder and poisonings, but excluding harms from medical errors and adverse events of medications taken as prescribed

Read through this page to learn more about alcohol and other drug use in NSW. Click on the following images and the indicators listed in the A-Z directory below to see more detailed data on this topic.

Alcohol and other drugs

Data for Penrith LGA

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