Sewage Data Reveals £9.8bn Cocaine Market in England
England’s cocaine market was worth an estimated £9.8 billion at retail level in the year to July 2025, according to new Home Office research that uses wastewater analysis to measure drug consumption at population scale for the first time.
The figures come from the Wastewater Analysis for Narcotics Detection programme (WAND) which tests samples from 50 sewage treatment plants across England and Scotland. When drugs are consumed, the body breaks them down into metabolites that pass into wastewater; laboratory analysis of those residues produces consumption estimates independent of self-reported survey data.
Around 123,000 kilograms of cocaine were consumed in England over the twelve-month period, making it by far the largest drug market measured. Ketamine consumption was estimated at 30,800kg (£0.9bn), amphetamine at 46,700kg (£0.5bn), MDMA at 9,900kg (£0.3bn) and heroin at 6,800kg (£0.3bn).
Trend data covering 2021 to 2025 shows sharp rises in ketamine and MDMA consumption, alongside a 40 per cent fall in estimated heroin use. The report cautions, however, that limited detection of synthetic opioids, including nitazenes and fentanyl analogues, which were added to the testing panel in the most recent phase, may not reflect their true prevalence, as the methodology for those substances is less developed.
The WAND programme now covers 28 per cent of England’s population and 46 per cent of Scotland’s. Wales is not included.