Trends in alcohol-specific deaths

Harmful alcohol use is a major health risk factor, which can negatively affect our physical, mental and social wellbeing. It can also impact our access to other building blocks of health, for example, alcohol misuse can damage our relationships and affect our ability to work.

This chart shows trends in alcohol-specific death rates (age-standardised) in the UK between 2001 and 2024.

• In 2001, the rate of alcohol-specific deaths in Scotland was 26.1 per 100,000 – more than double the rates in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
• By 2024, this gap has narrowed, driven by both a decrease in the rate of alcohol-specific deaths in the Scotland and increase in other countries.
• Between 2001 and 2012, the rate of alcohol-specific deaths in the Scotland decreased by around a third to 18.4 per 100,000. Since 2012, there has been a general upward trend to 20.9 per 100,000 in 2024.
• In Northern Ireland, England and Wales the rates have been increasing slowly but consistently over the past two decades. In England and Wales, rates have generally increased more noticeably since 2019 – up to 13.8 deaths per 100,000 in England and 16.8 deaths per 100,00 in Wales. In Northern Ireland rates were relatively stable between 2019 and 2023. 
• Between 2023 and 2024, the alcohol-specific death rate fell for Scotland (from 22.6 deaths per 100,000 people to 20.9), Wales (17.7 deaths per 100,000 people to 16.8) and England (15.0 deaths per 100,000 people to 13.8) but increased for Northern Ireland (18.5 deaths per 100,000 people to 21.4).