More than 600 West Midlands people died as a result of drugs misuse over a two-year period, a new report has revealed.

The West Midlands State of the Region 2026 study presented a grim picture of drug use in the area although it added cigarette smoking continues to reduce.

The report will be presented to the West Midlands Combined Authority’s Local Scrutiny Committee when it meets on Monday, September 7.

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It said there were 9,697 deaths from drug misuse between 2022 and 2024 and 613 of these were from Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton.

Death rates showed Birmingham had the highest number with 10 deaths per 100,000 with Coventry second with 8.7 deaths per 100,000.

Wolverhampton’s figure showed 8.5 deaths per 100,000 while Walsall had 6.5, Dudley 5, Solihull 3.9 and Sandwell 1.7.

The report said: “Latest data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales indicates that approximately 8.7 per cent of adults aged 16 to 59 (approximately 2.9 million people) reported using drugs in the year ending

March 2025.

“More concerning is the spike in frequent drug use among young people for those aged 16 to 24 the figure rose from 2.5 per cent to 3.5 per cent in just twelve months to March 2025.

“In England, there were 9,697 deaths attributable to drug misuse in 2022–2024, of which 6.3 per cent (614) occurred within the WMCA area.

“Across the seven LAs, Birmingham faces the most acute challenge, recording a rate of 10.0 deaths per 100,000.

“This is 1.7 times the national average and accounts for more than half of all drug misuse deaths in the WMCA.”

The report added smoking rates across the WMCA region continue to decrease with the area’s mean rate of current smokers falling from 14.6 per cent in 2019 to 12.7 per cent.

Solihull records the lowest rate in the region at 10 per cent, followed closely by Coventry at 10.6 per cent – both approaching the England average of 10.4 per cent.

Sandwell is the only area to see a rise with it’s rate increasing from 15.3 per cent to 16.8 per cent – the highest in the region.

Rates among males are higher than females across most of the region except Dudley where the female rate is 12.4 per cent compared with 11 per cent for men.

In Birmingham, 16.3 per cent of males are current smokes, more than double the rate for women with eight per cent.

The report also raised concerns about the increase in vape use with national e-cigarette users more than doubling from 6.6 per cent in 2020 to 15.3 per cent in 2024.

It said this is “raising longer term questions about the health implications of sustained e-cigarette use.”