In 2023, 10,473 people in the UK died as a direct result of alcohol.
Figures published today (5 February 2025) by the Office for National Statistics represent another all-time-high for alcohol-specific deaths in the UK, following half a decade of year-on-year rises.
The latest figures reflect a 4% increase on 10,048 lives lost in 2022, and a 38% increase compared to 2019, the last pre-pandemic year, when 7,565 people lost their lives.
The increase in deaths from 2022 to 2023 was mostly due to increases in England and Wales, which saw increases of 4.6% and 15.6%, respectively. There was no increase in deaths in Scotland over this period and a slight decrease in Northern Ireland.
Each of these deaths is a completely avoidable tragedy, with the impact of each life cut short felt deeply by their loved ones. It doesn’t have to be this way. As another year makes clear, it's time for change. It’s time to save and improve lives by answering calls for preventative policies.
Ash Singleton, Director of Research and Public Affairs at Alcohol Change UK, said:
“When we drink alcohol, there are a range of effects on our health, wellbeing and quality of life. From headaches and sleepless nights to high blood pressure, anxiety, and cancer, alcohol harm is affecting millions of us.
“The tragically high number of alcohol-specific deaths, and the thousands more not reflected in this data where alcohol is a contributing factor, are not a coincidence, but a direct result of years of Government inaction to tackle this harm to save and improve lives.
“The number of people drinking at hazardous and harmful levels, that is, over the Chief Medical Officers’ low risk drinking guidelines of 14 units a week, increases year on year. To prevent these figures rising further, policymakers must get serious about alcohol harm by focusing on prevention.
“The 10 Year Health Plan offers a golden opportunity for this Government to turn things around. Preventing alcohol harm – particularly through introducing Minimum Unit Pricing in England – will help deliver on the new Government’s pledges to halve deaths from the biggest killers, improve access to A&Es, dentists and GPs, and increase healthy life expectancy in the most-deprived regions.”
It’s important to note that these figures cover alcohol-specific deaths only; those caused by diseases known to be a direct consequence of alcohol, such as alcohol-related liver disease which made up 75.6% of alcohol-specific deaths in the UK in 2023. They do not include alcohol-related deaths from conditions including cardiovascular disease, mental ill-health and cancer, the three ‘biggest killers’ that the Government wants to halve.
The reality is that for every person who dies from alcohol, there are scores of others receiving or living with serious medical diagnoses. For every alcohol-specific condition, there are many more alcohol-related conditions. There are also millions of us whose lives are negatively affected by alcohol. Be that through hangovers, over-spending, under-performing at work, or just not being fully present for our friends or family.
Beyond deaths and hospitalisations, the ripple effect of alcohol harm reaches all corners of our communities and society. Preventative policies not only have the power to save and improve lives, but protect them too.
England needs a new alcohol strategy, focusing on population-level approaches that are proven to work.
- We need restrictions on alcohol marketing, at least to protect our children and young people, like the government has committed to put in place for products high in fat, salt, and sugar.
- Mandatory alcohol labelling will help people make informed choices at the point of purchase.
- We need to reduce how available alcohol is in our communities, particularly with the rise of online deliveries.
- Our government need not look particularly far for evidence-based policies, as Scotland and Wales have benefitted from introducing minimum unit pricing (MUP), with Northern Ireland set to follow suit. MUP tackles the cheapest alcohol sold in supermarkets and off-licenses, helping to reduce drinking at home and level the playing field for pubs and restaurants.
- For those already experiencing alcohol harm, we need to reach more people, sooner, through well-funded and culturally inclusive community treatment services.
These policies are essential to delivering on the Government’s key pledges on health. This includes tackling the ‘biggest killers’ mentioned above, as well as the well-known impact alcohol has on A&Es and ambulances. It also includes improved access to primary care, such as GPs and dentists: new research out soon from Alcohol Change UK will show how much even low levels of consumption add to these pressures experienced by all of us.
For too long, real change has been stymied by a focus on individual behaviour rather than preventative policies: the new Government has a golden opportunity for change.
