Analysis of wastewater samples by the Home Office shows that an estimated 123,000kg of cocaine was consumed in England in the year to July 2025, equating to a £9.8bn market value. Ketamine consumption, meanwhile, was estimated at more than 30,000kg, with a market value of just under £1bn.
The Home Office’s Wastewater Analysis for Narcotics Detection (WAND) programme has been taking samples from wastewater treatment plants since 2021, and now covers just under a third of England’s residential population. The analysis shows that cocaine has by far the largest estimated consumption levels and market value of the six drug types measured – cocaine, ketamine, heroin, amphetamine, MDMA and methamphetamine. The programme does not currently test for cannabis because of the ‘complexities of the sampling method’, the Home Office states.
Heroin consumption was estimated at almost 7,000kg with a £0.3bn market value; amphetamine at nearly 47,000kg, with a £0.5bn market value, and MDMA at just under 10,000kg, equating to a £0.3bn market value. Unsurprisingly most drugs show higher concentrations in urban areas – with London, Manchester, Liverpool and Brighton ‘notable hotspots’ – while drugs such as MDMA and cocaine showed high levels of weekend usage and low weekday usage. Ketamine, amphetamine and methamphetamine, however, showed consistent consumption throughout the week, ‘indicating more regular and potentially problematic use’.
The WAND programme provides ‘robust and timely estimates of drug consumption’ via an internationally used method, the Home Office states. Previous estimates of drug use had been reliant on Crime Survey England and Wales statistics, which are likely to be less accurate as they are based on self-reporting methods – ‘where respondents may not feel comfortable reporting their illicit drug use’.
Consumption estimates for MDMA and ketamine in England have shown increases of 232 per cent for MDMA and 229 per cent for ketamine since 2021, as well as more than 60 per cent for methamphetamine and 26 per cent for cocaine. Estimates for heroin showed a 40 per cent drop, however, alongside a 27 per cent drop for amphetamine. The most recent EU-wide waste water analysis figures from SCORE and EUDA also showed a surge in cocaine and ketamine detections compared to the previous year.
Wastewater Analysis: Estimating drug consumption available here