Alcohol Harms in Scotland

Deaths and hospitalisations

Alcohol-specific deaths

Alcohol-specific deaths refer to fatalities from conditions entirely caused by alcohol, such as alcohol-related liver disease and alcohol poisoning. Alcohol-related deaths include these but also cover deaths from conditions where alcohol is a contributing factor, such as certain cancers and heart disease.[1]

• In 2024, there were 1,185 alcohol-specific deaths registered in Scotland, a decrease of 7% (92 deaths) compared with 2023. 
• This is the lowest number of alcohol-specific deaths registered in any year since 2019.
• After adjusting for age, there were 20.9 alcohol-specific deaths per 100,000 people in Scotland in 2024, a decrease compared with 2023 (22.5 per 100,000). This was not a statistically significant decrease in rate.
• Male deaths continued to account for around two thirds of alcohol-specific deaths. Both male and female deaths decreased in the past year.
• The age profile of alcohol-specific deaths has become older over time, with the average age increasing in the last decade.
• After adjusting for age, Glasgow City, Inverclyde, North Lanarkshire, West Dunbartonshire and Dundee City had higher alcohol-specific mortality rates than the Scottish average in the period 2020-2024.
• Alcohol-specific mortality rates were 4.5 times as high in the most deprived areas of Scotland compared to the least deprived areas in 2024. In contrast, for all causes of death, people in the most deprived areas are around twice as likely to die as those in the least deprived areas.
• In 2023, Scotland continued to have the highest rate of alcohol-specific deaths of the UK constituent countries, though the difference has narrowed over time. Data for 2023 is the latest year that data is available across the UK.

Alcohol-related hospitalisations

• In 2023/24 there were 32,301 alcohol-related hospital admissions (stays) in Scotland. The majority of alcohol-related hospital admissions (92%) occurred in general acute hospitals (29,829) with the remaining 8% of admissions (2,469) occurring in psychiatric hospitals.
• In 2023/24, the European Age-sex standardised rate of alcohol-related hospital admissions to general acute hospitals was 548 per 100,000 population and was 3% higher than the rate in 2022/23 (532 per 100,000).
• In 2023/24, males (539 patients per 100,000 population) were two times more likely than females (233 patients per 100,000 population) to be admitted to hospitals for conditions wholly attributable to alcohol.
• In 2023/24, people in the most deprived areas (942 patients per 100,000 population), as measured by SIMD (Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation), were six times more likely to be admitted to hospitals for conditions wholly attributable to alcohol than those in the least deprived areas (143 patients per 100,000 population).