Scotland and Northern Ireland continued to have the highest rate of alcohol-specific deaths

6th February 2025

10,473 deaths from alcohol-specific causes were registered in the UK, the highest number on record, but the rate of alcohol-specific deaths (15.9 per 100,000 people) decreased slightly compared with 2022, (16.6 deaths per 100,000 people).

Age-specific rates decreased for the first time since 2020 for people aged between 25 and 59 years, while rates for those aged 20 to 24 and 60+ years remained similar to 2022.

The rate of alcohol-specific deaths for males remained around double the rate for females (21.9 and 10.3 deaths per 100,000 people, respectively); this is consistent with previous years.
England and Wales had an increase in the rate of alcohol-specific deaths (15.0 and 17.7 deaths per 100,000 people, respectively) compared with 2022.

Scotland and Northern Ireland continued to have the highest rate of alcohol-specific deaths (22.6 and 18.5 deaths per 100,000 people, respectively), with the rate in Scotland remaining unchanged and a decrease in Northern Ireland compared with 2022.

The North East had the highest rate of alcohol-specific deaths of any English region (25.7 deaths per 100,000); the East of England had the lowest rate (11.5 deaths per 100,000).

Read the full ONS report