Covid lockdown drinking led to record alcohol deaths, new figures show

Toll rocketed by more than 25 per cent on 2019 number

Record numbers of people died from drinking alcohol last year – and experts say it’s likely to be because of the Covid pandemic.

There were a record 9,641 deaths from alcohol-specific causes registered in the UK – or 14.8 per 100,000 people, official figures show.

That was a rise of 7.4 per cent on 2020 when the number was 8,974, and 27.4 per cent higher than in 2019, the last pre-coronavirus year, the Office for National Statistics said.

Alcoholic liver disease was a leading cause of the deaths.

A charity that aims to reduce alcohol-related harm said the “absolutely devastating” findings made for shocking reading.

Drinkaware said the heaviest drinkers drank more during the pandemic, and warning signs were missed as people saw each other less and were less able to access support.

“This created a perfect storm and we are now seeing the consequences,” the charity said.

“It is unacceptable that in one of the richest countries in the world, the rate of alcohol-related deaths was four times higher among men in the poorest areas compared to the most affluent.”

Between 2012 and 2019, rates of alcohol-specific deaths in the UK remained stable.

But studies have found that the number of high-risk drinkers in England rose from 10.8 per cent to 19 per cent in the first six months of lockdown.

Last year, as in previous years, about twice as many men as women died of alcohol causes.

Scotland and Northern Ireland had the highest rates of alcohol-specific deaths last year, at 22.4 and 19.3 deaths per 100,000 people, respectively. In Wales, the rate was 15 and in England 13.9 per 100,000.

Statistician James Tucker said: “Alcohol-specific deaths have risen sharply since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, with alcoholic liver disease the leading cause of these deaths.

“This rise is likely to be the result of increased alcohol consumption during the pandemic.

“Research has suggested that people who were already drinking at higher levels before the pandemic were the most likely to have increased their alcohol consumption during this period.”

A university study in the summer predicted thousands of extra alcohol-related deaths and hospital admissions are set to be reported over the coming 20 years as a result of increased drinking habits acquired during the pandemic.

When the UK’s first lockdown began, a rise in anxiety levels prompted a World Health Organisation expert to warn that alcohol was an “unhelpful coping strategy” for the possible stress and isolation.

In 2020 and last year, the numbers of alcohol deaths were statistically significantly higher than in any other year since 2001, the ONS said.

Rates rose in every region of England between 2019 and 2021, and for the eighth year in a row last year, the North East had the highest alcohol-specific death rate of any English region.

Surveys by the Department of Health and Social Care suggest people were more likely to report increasing their alcohol consumption during the Covid-19 pandemic than in previous years, with “a step-change around the time the pandemic began”.

Alcoholic liver disease takes many years to develop but a rise in alcohol consumption among those who have already been drinking a lot can rapidly cause death from “acute-on-chronic” liver failure.

Drinkaware wants the government to create a coordinated UK-wide alcohol strategy.