England’s cocaine market was estimated at £9.8 billion for the year through July 2025, while newer consumption readings eased and cocaine-involved deaths continued to climb.
The Home Office estimated that 123,000 kilograms of cocaine were consumed in England from August 2024 to July 2025, with a confidence interval of ±39,400 kilograms. Its estimated retail-market value carries a margin of ±£3.2 billion. The model draws on wastewater results from 42 sites covering 28% of England’s population and 2025 retail-price data. The department describes the result as experimental; it is a modeled valuation, not a register of sales.
A separate Home Office series tracking 16 sites sampled consistently put average consumption at 3,743 milligrams per 1,000 people per day in January through April 2026. That was 7% below the same months of 2025 and 17% above the 2021 period. The sites cover about 22% of England’s population. Wastewater measurements estimate how much a population consumed, but cannot count individual users.
Survey results offered a different measure. In the year ending March 2025, 2.1% of people ages 16 to 59 and 2.3% of those ages 16 to 24 in England and Wales said they had used powder cocaine in the prior 12 months. Neither rate changed significantly from the previous year, and the younger group’s rate was below 4.7% in the year ending March 2015. The survey relies on self-reports from people in private households, so it may miss some use, including among people living elsewhere.
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities said 33,612 people entering treatment in England in 2024-25 reported problems with non-crack cocaine. They accounted for 20% of new entrants, the highest share since reporting began. Treatment entries count people starting services, not all people who use cocaine.
The Office for National Statistics recorded 1,279 deaths registered in England and Wales in 2024 where cocaine was mentioned on the death certificate, 14.4% more than in 2023. The totals were 1,118 in 2023 and 112 in 2011. The agency says drug-poisoning deaths often involve several substances, so cocaine’s presence on a certificate alone does not show it was the primary cause.
The National Crime Agency said UK cocaine seizures rose from 3.4 tonnes in 2015 to 18.5 tonnes in 2025. It also reported lower prices in 2025 than in 2024, while wholesale purity remained high, and assessed that wider availability and competition among criminal groups likely contributed to the decline.
