The study material showed that there was a significant increase in psychiatric emergency admissions between 2000 and 2010. The rate of compulsory hospitalisation, measured among the population over the age of 18, remained unchanged during the period. The Norwegian Board of Health Supervision's care quality indicator for compulsory hospitalisation in mental health care can contribute to providing information and a basis of comparison for the use of compulsory hospitalisation, provided that the data submitted is quality assured. The highest increase was seen in the group of emergency admissions for mental disorders related to alcohol and illicit drug abuse as the principal diagnosis.