ZAGREB, 29 Sept (Hina) – A total of 5,565 people received treatment for psychoactive substance use in Croatia in 2025, with opioids accounting for about three-quarters of cases. Among younger people, treatment requests related to synthetic cannabinoids and amphetamines are increasing.

According to the Croatian Institute of Public Health (HZJZ), 4,241 people (76.2%) were treated for opioid dependence and 1,324 (23.8%) for non-opioid drugs, compared with 4,489 and 1,415, respectively, among 5,904 patients in 2024.

The number of first-time patients continues to decline, particularly for opioids. Of 612 first-time patients in 2025, 85 (13.9%) were treated for opioid dependence and 527 (86.1%) for non-opioid drugs.

Treatment population getting older

Men accounted for 4,593 patients (82.5%) and women for 972 (17.5%). The average age of patients has risen by nearly eight years over the past decade, reaching 40.5 for women and 42.8 for men.

There were 228 treated patients per 100,000 people aged 15-64. The highest rates were recorded in Ĺibenik-Knin (497.5), Istria (493.6) and Zadar County (492.3).

Family members were the most common to first identify the problem (55.8%), followed by friends (14.5%) and police (10.8%). Most patients (58.7%) sought treatment on their own, while primary care doctors accounted for 14% of referrals.

Nearly one in four opioid patients positive for hepatitis C

Among patients treated for opioid dependence, 24% tested positive for hepatitis C, 2.5% for hepatitis B and 0.3% for HIV.

In 2024, 322 people who had at some point received addiction treatment died, 81% of them men. The leading causes of death were circulatory diseases (18%) and malignant diseases (13.7%), reflecting a shift from poisoning-related deaths toward chronic diseases as the treated population ages.