Statistics on people receiving care in specialised drug treatment centres in 2020

The RECAP data contribute to the Treatment Demand Indicator (TDI) that the OFDT provides each year for the EMCDDA European Drugs Agency.

In 2020, 267 treatment centres took part in the RECAP survey, out of a total of around 500 treatment centres, including their various branches, providing data on more than 203 000 patients, including 73 000 patients seen for the first time in a treatment centre in 2020. 

The median age of patients is 40, and three-quarters of them are men. More than half of the patients seen in 2020 consult a treatment centre due to the use of alcohol and/or tobacco (around 86 000), 17% due to their use of cannabis, (nearly 28 000), and 28% due to illicit substances other than cannabis (46 000 patients). Of these, 41% use heroin and 29% use cocaine.

The total number of patients admitted to treatment centres in 2020 was lower than in 2019, probably as a result of the health crisis, which saw many services temporarily close during the first period of lockdown, which then restricted the number they admitted collectively.

Regarding new treatment demands, most of this decline related to illicit drug users (excluding cannabis) who, in 2020, accounted for only 18% of new patients in care, compared to 26% of the total outpatient admissions in 2019.