3,300 dead over decade directly from drinking alcohol, report finds

More than 3,300 people have now died directly from drinking alcohol over the last ten years, with a sharp increase in the annual figures over the decade, new data reveals.

Just over 340 alcohol-specific deaths were registered in 2023, up from 206 a decade ago, though there was a slight decrease on 2022, according to the latest figures from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency.

Overall, the 341 deaths from alcohol accounted for two per cent of the total number from all causes,17,254. This is a rise from 1.4% two years ago.

The majority, approximately two third of deaths exclusively caused by alcohol are among males aged between 45 and 64, though a substantial number, close to 500, were aged under 44, including nearly 100 less than 34 years of age.

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More than 70% of the deaths registered were caused by liver disease, with approximately one fifth attributed to mental and behavioural disorders.

Belfast last year recorded the highest number of deaths at 77, compared to 10 in Fermanagh and Omagh.

Over the last five years, there were four times as many deaths from alcohol in the most deprived areas of the north compared to the least.

NISRA cautions that the number of deaths registered as alcohol-specific over a year may not be the same as those that occurred over the same 12 months, in part because some may be subject to a coroner’s ruling.

The agency, therefore, also collates the three-year rolling average, which has dipped slightly from 352 to 349 but is also substantially greater than 10 years ago.

In 2023, almost two-thirds of the 341 deaths were male but the rate among females has closed to doubled since 2013, from 6.4 to 12.5 per 100,000.

The overall mortality rate was 18.5 per 100,000 rising to 47.6 in the 55-64 age cohort.

In the Republic. a total of 1,277 deaths, or 22.7 per 100,000 were registered as alcohol specific, up from under 1,000 ten years ago.

NISRA also noted the mortality rate in Scotland and the north is substantially higher than England and Wales, though cautioned that data collection may be slightly different.