Alcohol has a dramatic impact on the health of its users as well as the public health system. How many people suffer and how many get treatment?

1. http://www.help4addiction.co.uk 0330 088 9518
Help4Addiction
Alcoholism in the UK
The Facts
November 2016

2. http://www.help4addiction.co.uk 0330 088 9518
Alcohol Usage in the UK - Statistics
• More than 9 million people in England drink more than the
recommended daily limits (1)
• In the UK, in 2014 there were 8,697 alcohol-related deaths (1)
• Alcohol is 10% of the UK burden of disease and death, making
alcohol one of the three biggest lifestyle risk factors for disease
and death in the UK, after smoking and obesity (1)
• An estimated 7.5 million people are unaware of the damage
their drinking could be causing (1)
• Alcohol related harm costs England around £21bn per year, with
£3.5bn to the NHS, £11bn tackling alcohol-related crime and
£7.3bn from lost work days and productivity costs (1)

3. http://www.help4addiction.co.uk 0330 088 9518
Alcohol and Health - Statistics
• Alcohol is a causal factor in more than 60 medical conditions,
including: mouth, throat, stomach, liver and breast cancers; high
blood pressure, cirrhosis of the liver; and depression (1)
• In the UK in 2012-13, there were 1,008,850 hospital admissions
related to alcohol consumption where an alcohol-related
disease, injury or condition was the primary reason for hospital
admission or a secondary diagnosis (1)
• Alcohol now costs the NHS £3.5bn per year; equal to £120 for
every tax payer (1)

4. http://www.help4addiction.co.uk 0330 088 9518
Alcohol, Accidents, Abuse and Death - Statistics
• In 2013, 260 people were killed in drink drive accidents,
accounting for 15% of all road deaths in Great Britain (2) Over a third
of pedestrians killed in road accidents had been drinking.
• Alcohol misuse is a factor in 30% of suicides each year.
• 53% of all victims of violence said their attacker was affected
by alcohol at the time. It is estimated that there were 704,000
violent alcohol related incidents in 2013/14 (3)
• Alcohol is a factor in 20 – 30% of all accidents, 22% of Accident
and Emergency admissions in England were alcohol related in
2009. 492 people died from alcohol poisoning in the UK in
2013 (4).

5. http://www.help4addiction.co.uk 0330 088 9518
Age Standardised Alcohol related Deaths - Statistics
Figure 1. Age standardised alcohol-related deaths per 100,000 per population, UK, 1994 to 2014 (5)

6. http://www.help4addiction.co.uk 0330 088 9518
Alcohol Related Deaths by Age Group Males – Statistics
Figure 2. Age-specific alcohol-related death rates per 100,000 males, UK, 1994 to 2014(5)

7. http://www.help4addiction.co.uk 0330 088 9518
Alcohol Related Deaths by Age Group Females – Statistics
Figure 3. Age-specific alcohol-related death rates per 100,000 females, UK, 1994 to 2014(5)

8. http://www.help4addiction.co.uk 0330 088 9518
Alcohol and Health - Statistics
• The alcohol-related mortality rate of men in the most
disadvantaged socio-economic class is 3.5 times higher than for
men in the least disadvantaged class, while for women the figure
is 5.7 times higher (1)
• The number of older people between the ages of 60 and 74
admitted to hospitals in England with mental and behavioural
disorders associated with alcohol use has risen by over 150% in
the past ten years, while the figure for 15-59 years old has
increased by 94% (1)
• For every £1 invested in specialist alcohol treatment, £5 is
saved on health, welfare and crime costs (1)

9. http://www.help4addiction.co.uk 0330 088 9518
Alcohol and The Liver - Statistics
• In England and Wales, 63% of all alcohol-related deaths in 2012
were caused by alcoholic liver disease (1)
• Liver disease is one of the few major causes of premature
mortality that is increasing (1)
• Deaths from liver disease have reached record levels, rising
by 20% in a decade (1)

10. http://www.help4addiction.co.uk 0330 088 9518
Alcohol and Treatment - Statistics
• The NHS estimates that around 9% of adult men in the UK and
4% of UK adult women show signs of alcohol dependence (1)
• Only 1% of dependent drinkers access treatment in the UK (1)
• The overall number of people in treatment in 2013-14 increased
by 5% (5,237) from 109,863 in 2012-13 (1)
• In 2012, 178,247 prescriptions for drugs to treat alcohol
dependency were prescribed (1)

11. http://www.help4addiction.co.uk 0330 088 9518
Alcohol and Treatment - Statistics
• Approximately 42% of clients starting treatment were self-
referrals and 17% were referrals from general practitioners (GPs).
Onward referrals from other substance misuse services accounted
for 7% (1)
• 80,929 people started new alcohol treatment in England in
2013-2014 (1)
• 59% of those exiting treatment in 2012-13 were no longer
dependent on alcohol (had completed treatment successfully).
A further 5,914 (8%) were transferred for further treatment within
the community, while 1027 (1%) were transferred into appropriate
treatment while in custody (1)

12. http://www.help4addiction.co.uk 0330 088 9518
Sources
• (1)https://www.alcoholconcern.org.uk/alcohol-statistics UK stats
• (2) Estimates for reported road traffic accidents involving illegal alcohol levels:
2013(Department for Transport)
• (3) Crime Statistics, Focus on Violent Crime and Sexual Offences, 2013/14,
published 2015
• (4)Alcohol-related deaths in the United Kingdom, registered 2013 (Office of National
Statistics)
• (5) ONS (2016) ibid
http://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/causes
ofdeath/datasets/alcoholrelateddeathsintheukitsconstituentcountriesandregionsofen
gland
• https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/research/data/
• https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/research/data/consequences/
• http://www.alcoholeducationtrust.org/teacher-area/facts-figures/