Alcohol-related deaths hit record high during pandemic, new statistics show

Experts say ‘statistically significantly’ spike in deaths occurred after lockdown imposed

There were 5,460 deaths related to ‘alcohol-specific causes’ in 2020 (PA)

Alcohol-related deaths in England and Wales rose to a record high during 2020, according to the latest official statistics.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) noted a “statistically significant” increase in alcohol deaths in the period after the first coronavirus lockdown was imposed.

There were 5,460 deaths related to “alcohol-specific causes” between January and September last year, figures from the ONS show. It marks a 16 per cent increase compared with the same nine-month period in 2019.

The rate reached a peak of 12.8 deaths per 100,000 people in the first three months of 2020 and stayed at this level through to September – higher than in any other time since records began in 2001.

The ONS said rates between April and September – the months after strict, stay-at-home curbs on movement were introduced in a bid to control the pandemic – were statistically significantly higher than in any other year. 

Ben Humberstone, ONS’s deputy director of health analysis and life events, said there had been a clear increase in alcohol deaths during the pandemic – but said it was too early to say exactly why this might be.

“Today’s data shows that in the first three quarters of 2020, alcohol-specific deaths in England and Wales reached the highest level since the beginning of our data series, with April to September, during and after the first lockdown, seeing higher rates compared to the same period in previous years,” said Mr Humberstone.

“The reasons for this are complex and it will take time before the impact the pandemic has had on alcohol-specific deaths is fully understood.”

Yet independent experts said the rise was probably linked to increased alcohol consumption during lockdown, and the “pause” in some vital treatment services during 2020.

Professor Linda Bauld, professor of public health at the University of Edinburgh, said the figures were “deeply worrying but sadly not unexpected”.  

She said: “Surveys from earlier in the pandemic suggested that while some people had reduced their alcohol consumption or abstained during the ‘stay at home’ measures introduced in the spring of 2020, others were drinking more.”

Prof Bauld added: “Heavier drinking over several weeks or months on top of existing alcohol harms will have contributed to this rise in deaths. In addition, vital services were paused in 2020 meaning that people who needed help with their drinking or treatment for an alcohol-related condition may not have received it, with fatal consequences for some.”

Consistent with previous years, rates of male alcohol-specific deaths were twice those of females.

The ONS also noted that alcohol death rates were “statistically significantly” higher than the previous year in northeast England and London between April and June, and in southwest England between July and September.

Experts said the pandemic had little impact on how long it took to register and record the alcohol-related deaths.

Commenting on the figures, Julie Breslin, from the drug, alcohol and mental health charity We Are With You, said: “The number of people in treatment for an alcohol issue has fallen by nearly one fifth since 2013-14. At the same time we know that around four out of five dependent drinkers aren’t accessing any kind of support.

“Sadly, these statistics show the impact of what happens when the majority of people with an issue with alcohol aren't accessing treatment or support, especially in a country with such a heavy drinking culture as the UK.”