Civometry

Drug offences (police-recorded): record highs and lows

The extremes of drug offences (police-recorded) as published by ONS, across the 24 periods held here (Year ending March 2003 to Year ending March 2026). Each record is a published figure, not a computed one, and the scope is this series — not “ever”.

The latest figure, 231,130 in Year ending March 2026, is the highest since Year ending March 2011, when it was 232,922 — every period between was lower. The rule: a period counts as beaten only when its figure is strictly below the latest, and the claim is only made when it reaches back at least five years.

Highest published

243,536Year ending March 2009

Lowest published

138,517Year ending March 2018

The full series

Drug offences (police-recorded): Year ending March 2003 to Year ending March 2026LabourLabourLabourLabourCoalitionCoalitionConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeLabour0100k200k20052010201520202025Year ending March 2003: 143,320 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2004: 143,511 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2005: 145,837 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2006: 178,479 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2007: 194,233 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2008: 229,913 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2009: 243,536 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2010: 235,584 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2011: 232,922 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2012: 229,099 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2013: 208,003 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2014: 198,216 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2015: 170,689 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2016: 149,726 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2017: 139,223 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2018: 138,517 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2019: 154,382 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2020: 183,915 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2021: 211,154 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2022: 179,497 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2023: 179,871 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2024: 182,899 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2025: 205,800 offences · published 23 July 2026Year ending March 2026: 231,130 offences · published 23 July 2026
Published valueProvisional or revisedLatestShaded bands: governments (see labels)Hover or use arrow keys to read a value

What a record here is, and is not

A record is the extreme of the periods this site holds for the current series, at each period’s newest published release. Earlier series measured under different methods are not compared against it. Money is in cash terms: a record set years ago stands against the money of its own year.