Alcohol harm costs England £27.4bn a year, and this cost has risen 40% since 2003.
In the first nationwide analysis of its kind in over 20 years, research by the Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS) has also concluded the tax revenue from alcohol only raises around £12.5bn each year, meaning it is dwarfed by the financial cost of harm.
Vanessa Hebditch, British Liver Trust director of communications and policy, said of the findings: “These figures are alarming, but not surprising, given that we know that over 10,000 people sadly died from alcohol-related causes in 2022.
“76% (7,635) of these deaths were attributed to alcohol-related liver disease, an alarming 46% increase since 2012. These figures underscore the critical need for immediate action to address both the economic costs and the human costs of excessive alcohol consumption across the nation.”
Alcohol and health
Employers urged to limit alcohol at work parties
Pandemic led to ‘devastating’ record rise in alcohol-related deaths
More than one in five people drink to an extent that could put their liver in danger, the study found. The economic burden on the NHS now stands at £4.9bn, enough to pay for the salaries of almost half the nurses in England.
“Year after year, we have seen steady increases in alcohol consumption, and deaths are at a record high”, said Dr Katherine Severi, the IAS’s chief executive.
“Now we have data to show that the financial cost of harm has risen too. As a country we cannot afford to sit back and do nothing. The government should develop a comprehensive alcohol strategy to tackle this rising harm, which would have a knock-on effect of reducing the financial burden too.”
For two decades, the most authoritative estimate of the total cost of alcohol harm came from a 2003 study by the Cabinet Office.
Growing frustration over the government’s failure to update this figure led to the Public Accounts Committee stating last year that the government was “not even in a position to identify an appropriate response” to alcohol harm.
The IAS used the same Cabinet Office methodology and broke down the total cost into the following categories:
- £4.91bn cost to the NHS and healthcare in England – such as hospital admissions and ambulance call-outs
- £14.58bn cost to the criminal justice system, police, and wider crime and disorder
- £5.06bn cost to the wider economy due to lost productivity – such as people missing work or being less productive at work
- £2.89bn cost to social services.
The figure reflects the ‘external’ cost of alcohol, demonstrating the scale of the harm drinkers impose on others. Across the population, the average cost per head of alcohol harm is £485 a year.
To tackle the harm of alcohol in the UK, the British Liver Trust is calling for the government to deliver a comprehensive alcohol strategy. The UK needs joined-up public health measures that address the affordability, promotion, and availability of alcohol to reduce its detrimental impact, it has said.
Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance
Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday
The charity is also calling for more support for people who are drinking at harmful levels and early intervention programmes for people who are not dependent but still drinking well above the government’s recommended guideline of 14 units a week.
The region of England with the highest cost per head of alcohol harm was the north east, with every person contributing £562 a year, it added.
