Cocaine use in the past 12 months in Europe as of 2023, by country

As of 2023, the Netherlands had the highest prevalence of cocaine use in Europe at three percent of the population having used in the previous year. This was followed by Spain and Ireland, with 2.4 percent and 2.3 percent of their respective populations using cocaine in this period. 

Breakdown of cocaine users in the Netherlands

When broken down by age, the highest prevalence of cocaine users in the Netherlands is found in early adulthood. Almost seven percent of those aged 25 to 29 years used cocaine in 2021, and around 17 percent of this age group had tried it at least once in their life.

Harms of cocaine use

In 2022, over 2.6 thousand people in the Netherlands entered drug treatment as a result of cocaine use. Furthermore, in the last 15 years, the annual number of deaths due to cocaine use in the country has been steadily increasing. A new-high was reached in 2021, with 72 cocaine deaths recorded in the Netherlands.