Key Summary
- Alcohol-specific death rate has increased since 2001.
- Alcoholic liver disease accounts for 74.3 percent of all deaths in 2024.
- The death rate in deprived areas is much higher than least deprived areas.
UK Alcohol-specific death rate in 2024 at 14.8 per 100,000 remains higher than the rate in 2001 (10.6 per 100,000), representing an overall upward trend over the last two decades, according to Office for National Statistics.
However, it is lower than from its record high in 2023 (15.9 deaths per 100,000).
There are differences in mortality rates across the four nations and regions of England.
The highest death rates per 100,000 population have been recorded in Northern Ireland (21.4) and Scotland (20.9), while it was lower in England (13.8) and Wales (16.8).
Within England, the North East remains the most affected region, with a rate of 21.1, which is nearly double the rate of some other English regions.
People aged 55 to 59 had the highest alcohol-specific death rate in 2024, at 35.8 deaths per 100,000.
Men continue to be disproportionately affected. In 2024, the male death rate (20.2) was more than double the female rate (9.7).
Alcoholic liver disease is the leading cause of alcohol-specific deaths, accounting for 74.3 percent of all cases in 2024.
Mental and behavioural disorders due to alcohol use followed, accounting for approximately 15.4 percent of deaths.
A correlation between socioeconomic deprivation and alcohol-specific mortality was identified through the dataset.
In 2024, men in England, who live in the most deprived areas were nearly four times more likely to die from alcohol-related causes than those in the least deprived areas (35.7 vs. 9.0 per 100,000).
In the case of women, the pattern is similar with death rates of 15.4 in the most deprived areas compared with 5.1 in the least deprived.
