From pub toilets and private parties to football terraces and far-right marches, cocaine has become a familiar presence across modern Britain. Deaths linked to the drug have risen to record levels, while its supply supports a multibillion-pound criminal industry.
But who is using the drug, and how has the picture changed? The figures do not necessarily show millions of new users, but highlight an established market in which some people take more cocaine, more often – and face greater harm as they grow older.
A £۹.۸bn-a-year habit?
In June this year the scientists at the Home Office published a new experimental estimate of cocaine consumption. Samples taken from sewage suggested that cocaine use rose by ۲۶% between ۲۰۲۱ and ۲۰۲۵. They estimated that people in England consumed ۱۲۳,۰۰۰kg of cocaine in ۲۰۲۴-۲۵: the equivalent of roughly ۲.۵bn lines, with an estimated street value of £۹.۸bn.
Yet crime survey data suggests the number of people reporting cocaine use in the past year has remained flat or fallen slightly since the pandemic. One explanation is that a similar or smaller number of people are using the drug more frequently. Another is that the survey excludes people who are homeless or living in institutions, and some respondents may be reluctant to admit to illegal drug use.
Dr Josh Torrance, a specialist in drug markets, says wastewater analysis can reveal use that surveys miss. Having surveyed festivalgoers, he said: “People are often not honest about their drug use with strangers.” Although sewage estimates have substantial margins of error, and the estimated street value should be taken with a pinch of salt, the direction of travel is broadly accurate.
Cheaper cocaine, until recently
For several years, the market offered cocaine at falling prices. The National Crime Agency (NCA) told the Guardian that wholesale prices dropped below pre-pandemic levels in ۲۰۲۲ and reached “historically low levels” in ۲۰۲۵. However, it has seen signs that wholesale prices are rising again in ۲۰۲۶.
Torrance tracks advertised prices for an ounce of cocaine from a pool of vendors. He says the price fell from about £۱,۳۰۰ in March ۲۰۲۲ to about £۱,۰۰۰ by August ۲۰۲۳. When he resumed collecting data in September ۲۰۲۵, it was about £۷۰۰. That remained steady until June this year, when it rose to roughly £۸۰۰; in July it reached £۱,۰۰۰. By September it had eased to about £۹۵۰.
“I’ve never seen such a quick increase in the price of cocaine,” he says of the summer rise. He suspects a supply disruption, but says the cause is difficult to pin down in a market with many suppliers and routes.
High purity means that cheaper supply is more dangerous. Torrance says cocaine sold as “pure” is often about ۷۰-۸۰% pure, and a more diluted tier (sometimes marketed as “social cocaine”) may be about ۶۰%. The NCA says wholesale purity has remained high in recent years. In Torrance’s view, “a reduced price drives up use. With increased use and increased purity, you end up with more deaths.”
White lines, grey hairs
Crime survey data – while subject to caveats – shows younger people are still the most likely to use the drug, but that use is falling among the young, and rising among older age groups.
Other statistics back this up. In England, ۳۳,۶۱۲ people started treatment for cocaine problems in ۲۰۲۴-۲۵ – up ۵۷% from ۲۰۱۹-۲۰ – which also suggests an increase in frequent users.
Millennials seem to be the generation with the most problematic use. People in their ۳۰s were the largest age group seeking help. Ten years earlier, it was those in their ۲۰s. “We’ve seen a cohort of cocaine users age and continue to use cocaine,” says Torrance.
Fuel for violent crime
There has been a ۱۰% rise in recorded crime rates mentioning cocaine since ۲۰۱۹, according to figures collected by the Guardian from ۳۹ police forces.
Police recorded almost ۳۰,۰۰۰ crimes mentioning the word cocaine in ۲۰۲۵. Most were drug offences, but ۱۸% were violent crimes, including stalking and harassment and one murder case. About ۴% were sexual offences, including ۳۴۴ rapes.
A police record mentioning cocaine does not by itself demonstrate cocaine use but the figures do give an indication of the direction of travel.
Home Office figures suggest that nearly six in ۱۰ police drug tests carried out on people arrested on suspicion of domestic abuse were positive for cocaine between July ۲۰۲۵ and June this year. Those tested may be more likely to have used drugs than other domestic abuse suspects, but the figures highlight cocaine’s exacerbating role.
A deadly toll
More older people taking cocaine, increased purity on the streets, and a possible increase in frequent users have coincided with mounting harms, and not just for the victims of crime. A record number of people are now dying from taking cocaine in England and Wales. This rise has mainly been driven by older people, with more than half of cocaine deaths registered last year involving someone over ۴۰.
Torrance says the ageing of a group that continues to use cocaine is reflected in hospital presentations and deaths. Acute overdose deaths often involve cardiac problems, he says, while the health effects of long-term use add to the risks.
An independent report last year found that the UK lacked a coordinated drug prevention strategy with dedicated funding, despite international evidence showing drug prevention programmes work.
“One reason cocaine deaths have risen so dramatically over the last five to ۱۰ years is that we didn’t invest in upstream prevention,” Torrance says. Earlier drug education and helping people at risk engage with services would help.
“The more we can do that, the fewer of these issues we’ll see decades down the line.”
