There were 9,809 deaths from alcohol-specific causes registered in the UK in 2024, according to new figures from ONS – 6.3 per cent down on 2023’s record high of 10,473. Â
The rate of alcohol-specific deaths was at its lowest level since 2020, at 14.8 per 100,000 people. Scotland and Northern Ireland continue to have the highest rates, at 20.9 and 21.4 deaths per 100,000 respectively, with alcohol-specific deaths in Northern Ireland increasing by 80 per cent in the space of a decade.
As in previous years, the North East had the highest rate of any English region, while the death rate for men remained double that for women.
The year-on-year decrease is the first since 2018, with registered alcohol-specific deaths rising by more than 38 per cent between 2019 and 2023. Alcohol-specific fatalities only include those where the death was a direct consequence of alcohol use, such as alcoholic liver disease, and do not include all of the deaths that could be attributed to alcohol. Delays in registration mean that while 85 per cent of the deaths occurred in 2024, just under 13 per cent occurred in 2023 and 1.5 per cent in 2022 or earlier.
While the 6.3 per cent reduction was welcome, deaths remained ‘far too high and are still significantly above pre-pandemic levels’, said Alcohol Health Alliance chair Professor Sir Ian Gilmore. ‘This small decline does not indicate meaningful progress. It is a continuation of a public health crisis that has been allowed to worsen over recent years. We know that the sharp rise in deaths since the pandemic has been driven by increasing levels of heavy drinking, widening health inequalities, and a lack of meaningful government action to reduce alcohol harm.’
Although it was encouraging to see a decline, ‘the fact that around 189 people still die every week is a stark and tragic reminder of the scale of the problem,’ added Turning Point chief operating officer Clare Taylor. ‘Alcohol-related deaths are avoidable, and timely access to information, support and treatment is one of the strongest protections against harm. Although more people are entering treatment, too many still miss out on support until it is too late, and stigma continues to prevent people from seeking help. Tackling alcohol harm must be a national priority. This includes strengthening training for healthcare professionals across primary care, emergency departments and hospitals, and improving coordination with specialist community alcohol and drug services.’
The drop ‘must not lull any of us, including the government, into a false sense of security about alcohol harm in the UK’, stated Alcohol Change UK CEO Dr Richard Piper. ‘While a reduction from the pandemic-era spike in harmful drinking was expected over time, deaths are still much higher than pre-pandemic levels and not falling fast enough. And these figures exclude the tens of thousands more deaths where alcohol plays a role, or the millions of us whose lives are affected by the wider toll alcohol has on our health, wellbeing and quality of life.’ While the government had ambitious national plans to tackle issues like smoking, it was ‘falling short on meaningful policies to prevent alcohol harm’, he said.
The latest statistics represented a ‘step in the right direction, but we must meet it with caution, not celebration’, agreed WithYou CEO Simon Phillips, with more than 75 per cent of people with alcohol dependency still not accessing treatment. ‘The underlying challenges are pervasive and deeply concerning. Despite investment in recent years, services continue to be under pressure after years of chronic underfunding. Further, policy failures have prevented alcohol treatment from progressing. The last UK government alcohol strategy was published more than ten years ago, but alcohol-related deaths have been rising since 2001.’
Alcohol-specific deaths in the UK: registered in 2024 is available here