There were a record number of deaths from alcohol-specific causes in the UK last year, latest data has shown, figures an alcohol charity has called “absolutely devastating”.
The figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that, in 2021, there were 9,641 deaths (or 14.8 per 100,000 people) from alcohol-specific causes registered in the UK.
This was the highest number on record, it said, with 2021 7.4% higher than 2020 (8,974 deaths; 14.0 per 100,000) and 27.4% higher than in 2019 (7,565 deaths; 11.8 per 100,000), the last pre-Covid-19 pandemic year.
Between 2012 and 2019 rates of alcohol-specific deaths in the UK had broadly remained stable, the ONS said, with no statistically significant changes in the age-standardised rate.
The latest figures are therefore an indication of the impact of the pandemic on people’s drinking habits, with previous research suggesting the successive lockdowns and anxiety of the pandemic did lead people to hit the bottle more frequently.
The rate of alcohol-specific deaths for males in 2021 remained around double the rate for females (20.1 and 9.9 deaths per 100,000 people, respectively), said the ONS.
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Scotland and Northern Ireland had the highest rates of alcohol-specific deaths in 2021 (22.4 and 19.3 deaths per 100,000 people, respectively).
However, across England, Wales and Scotland there had been statistically significant increases in the alcohol-specific death rate compared with the period before the pandemic, it added.
“Alcohol-specific deaths have risen sharply since the onset of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, with alcoholic liver disease the leading cause of these deaths. This rise is likely to be the result of increased alcohol consumption during the pandemic,” said James Tucker, data and analysis for social care and health division at the ONS.
“Research has suggested that people who were already drinking at higher levels before the pandemic were the most likely to have increased their alcohol consumption during this period,” he added.
Karen Tyrell, chief executive of the charity Drinkaware, said in response to the ONS report: “These statistics are absolutely devastating, each number masking an individual family tragedy.
“It is unacceptable that in one of the richest countries in the world, the rate of alcohol related deaths were four times higher among men in the poorest areas compared to the most affluent.
“We also know that the heaviest drinkers drank more during the pandemic, and warning signs were missed as people saw each other less and were less able to access support. This created a perfect storm and we are now seeing the consequences,” Tyrell said.
She called on health secretary Steve Barclay to work with experts “to create a new coordinated UK-wide alcohol strategy to reduce the damage alcohol does to individuals, our public services and to wider society”.
