New figures reveal more drink-specific deaths after Covid - Northern Ireland jointly tops rates of alcohol-specific deaths

The number of deaths specifically caused by alcohol across the UK has also reached a record high, according to new figures.

Deaths which occurred as a direct consequence of alcohol misuse increased rapidly after the start of the pandemic and the latest figures show a “continuation of that trend”, experts said.

In 2022 these deaths were around a third higher compared with 2019, the year before the pandemic.

There were 10,048 deaths from alcohol-specific causes in the UK in 2022, the highest number on record, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

This is 32.8% higher than in 2019 when there were 7,565 deaths and 4.2% higher than in 2021, when there were 9,641 alcohol-specific deaths.

Between 2012 and 2019, deaths specifically attributed to alcohol were “stable”, the ONS said.

“Alcohol-specific deaths rose sharply with the onset of the pandemic, and today's results show a continuation of that trend, with deaths around a third higher than in 2019,” said ONS health statistician David Mais.

“Research has suggested that people who were already drinking at high levels before the pandemic were the most likely to have increased their drinking during this period. This is likely a factor in the increase in alcohol-specific deaths registrations we have seen in 2022.

“Alcoholic liver disease was the leading cause of these deaths, and as with previous years, rates are much higher among men.”

Alcohol-specific deaths only include those health conditions where the death is a direct consequence of alcohol, such as alcoholic liver disease.

The figures do not include all deaths that can be attributed to alcohol, such as heart disease or various types of cancer.

The new figures also show that:

l The rate of alcohol-specific deaths for men in 2022 remained around double that in women.

l Scotland and Northern Ireland had the highest rates of alcohol-specific deaths in 2022.

l The North East had the highest rate of alcohol-specific deaths of any English region in 2022 while the East of England had the lowest rate.