Northern Ireland overtakes Scotland for alcohol-specific death rate

The data showed a major shift over the past two decades. In 2001, Scotland recorded 26.1 alcohol-specific deaths per 100,000 people, compared with 12.4 in Northern Ireland, 10.1 in Wales and 8.9 in England.

By 2024, Northern Ireland’s rate had risen to 21.4 deaths per 100,000, narrowly exceeding Scotland’s 20.9. Wales recorded 16.8 and England 13.8.

Across the UK, 9,809 alcohol-specific deaths were registered in 2024, referring to conditions directly caused by alcohol such as alcoholic liver disease. Northern Ireland recorded 397 deaths, its highest figure in two decades.

Dr Katherine Severi, chief executive at the Institute of Alcohol Studies, said: “The fall in alcohol deaths from 2023 to 2024 offers a small but welcome sign that the UK is moving in the right direction – but let’s be clear: alcohol deaths remain at a deeply unacceptable level and we cannot allow that to become normal.

“These deaths were unacceptably high before the pandemic. They rose sharply during it. A modest reduction is not cause for complacency – it is cause for redoubling efforts.”

The ONS said people in deprived communities remained “between three and four times more likely” to die from alcohol-related causes. Men were around twice as likely to die from alcohol as women, with a death rate of 20.2 per 100,000.