Alcohol and drug addiction treatment increased by 16% in children and young people
Current treatment statistics have seen a significant rise in access to alcohol and drug rehabilitation support for children and young individuals. The 16% increase in this figure is evidence of increased awareness and early intervention in youth substance misuse. Now that more households are looking to access support via youth addiction recovery programs, learning about the UK’s rehab rate of success is a key component in informing decisions for the young person’s future.
Services like youth drug treatment and alcohol rehab for young adults are seeing more referrals, particularly for young men in drug rehab. With drug rehab success rate statistics becoming more transparent, many are exploring options such as youth residential rehab and alcohol rehab support for teens. These developments reflect both the challenges and progress in tackling youth addiction treatment, and help paint a clearer picture of young people’s substance misuse treatment statistics in the UK.
Treatment and substance trends show an increase in young people seeking help, with substance issues tied to mental health
Over 14,000 young people entered drug and alcohol treatment in 2023–24
The government released new statistics for children and young people during the period of April 2023 to March 2024, finding that there were 14,352 young people aged 17 and under in alcohol and drug treatment. The report also found that nearly half (49%) of those seeking treatment stated they also had a mental health treatment need, with a higher proportion of girls (65%) reporting needing treatment than boys (40%).
Cannabis and alcohol are the leading issues for young people in treatment
When looking into the substances recorded it was found that 87% of children and young people in treatment stated having a cannabis problem, and almost 2 in 5 reported having problems with alcohol. Of those in treatment, 99% received psychosocial intervention which included talking therapies and counselling to support behaviour change. Less than 1% of children and young people in treatment received pharmacological intervention.
Youth addiction programmes achieve record high success rates
The details of the report show that 85% of those in programmes left treatment due to successful completion, the highest success rate since records began in 2005. It also marks a slight improvement on the previous rate of the previous year at 83%.
Find the full government report including referral routes and policy context linked below.
The statistical findings in the government report come from the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS).