Alcohol: deaths
In July 2006 the Office for National Statistics, General Register Office for Scotland and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency agreed on a harmonised definition of alcohol related deaths. This means that for the first time there is uniformity in way alcohol related deaths are reported in the UK.
It is important to note that the new selection of codes is different to that previously used by ISD. Therefore, to provide consistent trend data, GROS have extracted data back to 2000 using the new codes.
- Chart 1 shows that the number of alcohol related deaths have risen from 1,979 in 2000 to 2,372 in 2005.
- Alcohol-related deaths accounted for 1 in 25 (4.3%) of all deaths in 2005
- Over half (54%) of alcohol related deaths were under the age of 60.
- In 2005, almost half (46%) of alcohol-related deaths were in the over 60's and 40% were in the 45-59 years age group
- The majority of alcohol-related deaths are in the middle-aged (58% were aged between 45 and 64 years).
- Chart 1 shows that, in 2005, 1,663(70%) of alcohol-related deaths were of men compared with 709 (30%) which were of women. The crude alcohol-related death rate for men was triple that for women (60 per 100,000 population compared with 20 per 100,000 population).
- Deaths with a diagnosis of alcoholic liver disease rose by 444%, from 215 (1980) to 1,170 (2003).
- Over half (59%) of alcohol-related deaths had a diagnosis of alcoholic liver disease.
- 56% of alcohol-related deaths in males had a diagnosis of alcoholic liver disease compared with 67% of alcohol-related female deaths.
- Chart 2 shows that the death rate for an alcohol-related diagnosis was 70 per 100,000 in the most deprived areas (deprivation quintile 5) compared to 19 per 100,000 in the least deprived areas (deprivation quintile 1).
Source: Information Services Division (2007)
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