Health costs

• Alcohol kills six people in Scotland every day.
• You are twice as likely to die of an alcohol-related health problem in Scotland than in the rest of the UK.
• The number of people diagnosed with alcoholic liver disease has increased by 52% since 1998.
• Emergency departments in Scotland deal with over 70 alcohol-related assaults every day.
• One in six deaths on Scotland’s roads is caused by drink driving.
• Alcohol is a contributory factor in over half of deaths in fires in Scotland.
• Alcohol-related problems are estimated to cost Scotland over £2 billion every day.
• 1 in 2 women and 2 in 3 men exceed the recommended daily limits of alcohol consumption.

Alcohol is a potentially addictive, psychoactive substance which is linked to around 60 different diseases and conditions. For most conditions in which alcohol is a factor, there is a dose dependent relationship. That is, the more alcohol is consumed, the greater the risk of alcohol-related health harm.

There is no guaranteed safe level of alcohol consumption. Government guidelines recommend daily limits of alcohol consumption that carry a low risk of health damage.

For more information on the impact of alcohol on health, down SHAAP's factsheet Alcohol & Health.