UK Alcohol Deaths Fall to 9,809 in 2024, First Drop Since Pandemic

The number of alcohol-specific deaths in the UK fell for the first time since the Covid pandemic, according to the latest national figures.

Office for National Statistics data show 9,809 such deaths registered in 2024. One expert described the drop as a "modest reduction," the lowest total since 2021 and the lowest rate since 2020 at 14.8 deaths per 100,000 people.

Campaigners said the figures highlight the need to address alcohol-related harm and called the data a "cause for redoubling efforts."

Alcohol-specific deaths, where health conditions stem directly from alcohol, had risen in the UK since 2018 and reached a record 10,473 in 2023.

Death rates declined in England and Wales to 13.8 and 16.8 per 100,000 people, respectively, in 2024 from the previous year. Scotland and Northern Ireland posted the UK's highest rates at 20.9 and 21.4 per 100,000.

Dr. Richard Piper, CEO of Alcohol Change UK, told BBC News no single factor explained the decrease, but the numbers remained "way too high."

"They are significantly higher than they were before the pandemic and are still the biggest we've seen in decades," he said.

Dr. Piper pointed to pandemic stress, cost-of-living pressures and cheap store-bought alcohol as reasons for increased drinking. "More economic hardship causes an increase in drinking due to the stress and anxiety it brings, while over 70% of all alcohol is purchased at home and shop-bought alcohol is as cheap as it's ever been," he said.

He noted a recent drop in young people drinking would not necessarily cut deaths yet.

ONS data showed the North East with England's highest regional rate at 21.1 deaths per 100,000, while London had the lowest at 10.9. Dr. Piper attributed this partly to regional health inequalities. "Areas with higher deprivation have higher levels of alcohol harm," he said.

Deprived communities also faced lower access to healthcare and more cheap alcohol outlets, leading to higher consumption, he added.

Men's death rate stood at 20.2 per 100,000 in 2024, nearly double the women's rate. Age-specific rates fell for those 25 to 79 compared to 2023, but rose for those 80 and over, ONS said.

Dr. Piper suggested cumulative lifetime alcohol effects might explain the rise among over-80s.

Alcohol Change UK wants the government to introduce minimum unit pricing in England and control online marketing. Dr. Piper said the government was "missing a huge trick in tackling" alcohol harms due to the UK's "national love affair with the substance."

"They're talking a good game on health prevention, but it's not delivering," he said.

Dr. Katherine Severi, chief executive of the Institute of Alcohol Studies, called for ramped-up efforts. "Let's be clear, alcohol deaths remain at a deeply unacceptable level, and we cannot allow that to become normal," she said. "A modest reduction is not cause for complacency – it is cause for redoubling efforts."

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "Any death from alcohol is a tragedy. While these figures show a slight reduction, alcohol-related deaths remain at unacceptably high levels and we are determined to drive them down."