Introduction to alcohol misuse

Alcohol misuse is a significant public health issue. The effects of alcohol impact on the health and wellbeing of individuals, but also on families and the wider population.

Dependent drinkers are at a much higher risk of alcohol-related ill health than non-drinkers. Alcohol is said to be a causal factor in more than 60 medical conditions, including circulatory and digestive diseases, cancer, liver disease and depression.

Public Health England estimates that there were 280,000 admissions to hospitals in 2019/20 where the main reason was due to alcohol. This is 2% higher than 2018/19 and 8% higher than 2016/17.

Statistics also reveal that in 2020/21 167,000 prescription items were dispensed to treat alcohol dependence (1% higher than 2019/20, but 15% lower than 2014/15).

Rates of death from alcohol-related liver disease

The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities has reported that around 90% of liver deaths in England are related to lifestyle and unhealthy environments. The vast majority of these are alcohol-related.

According to The Chief Medical Officer’s Annual Report for 2023, alcohol-specific liver disease is the only leading cause of death in England that is increasing significantly, having increased by 87% between 2001 and 2021.

In terms of how it is affecting people across the country, an update to the UK government’s 2021 mortality data revealed that rates of premature death from alcohol-related liver disease was 17.2 per 100,000 population of people under the age of 75, 16.5 in the north west, 13.6 in Yorkshire and Humber and 13.4 in the West Midlands. 

The north west region had the largest number of premature deaths from alcohol-related liver disease (1,082), followed by the south east with 756 deaths and west midlands with 689 deaths.

To summarise: 

• Alcohol harm costs the UK around £27.4 billion every year, according to research by the Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS). 
• Hospital admissions and mortality rates directly attributed to alcohol are rising.
• Men are more likely to die from liver disease compared to women.
• Liver disease is a largely preventable condition and positive changes can be made with low-level, often brief interventions, meaning that alcohol related interventions are very cost effective. 
• 60-70% of UK police officers’ time is spent on alcohol-related offences.
• In 2016, Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer for England, reduced safe limits for alcohol consumption for both women and men, on the basis of national and international evidence of the progressive increased risk of developing various cancers, including most common ones such as breast and colon.
• Alcohol use is related to many areas of social, physical, and mental health problems, triggering high rates of consultation in primary care.
• The proportion of non-drinkers increased from 16% to 19% between 2011 and 2022. 
• Variations in mortality rate from liver disease persist between local authorities in England with a four-fold variation in mortality rates for men and women.

Supermarket alcohol 188% more affordable than 30 years ago 

New figures from the Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS) show that supermarket beer is almost 188% more affordable today than it was 30 years ago, and that its affordability has risen by 22% since 2012.

The IAS research is the first to compare affordability in the off-trade (supermarkets and off-licences) to the on-trade (pubs, bars, hotels and restaurants) using data up to 2016. Using an affordability index adjusting prices for inflation and income growth, the study shows a widening gulf between pubs and supermarkets. 
See also: Alcohol Health Alliance.