Figures published today (23 September 2025) by National Records of Scotland have revealed the following:
- 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.
- Male deaths continued to account for around two thirds of alcohol-specific deaths. Both male and female deaths decreased in the past year.
- 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.
While the fall in deaths is encouraging, they are still too high and there remain wide inequalities and the Scottish Government still has considerable work to do to address this.
Dr Alastair MacGilchrist OBE, Chair of SHAAP said:
“Today’s figures are encouraging and are evidence of the impact of public health policies such as MUP.
“We cannot afford to lose momentum, however. Deaths and harm from alcohol are still far too high and there is much more that can be done to tackle this.
“The Scottish Government must now put public health over business interests and introduce measures such as restrictions on marketing, automatic uprating of MUP and mandatory alcohol labelling, while also investing in treatment.
“The UK Government can also act by increasing alcohol duty in the upcoming budget but also reintroducing the duty escalator which saw duty increase annually by inflation plus 2%.
“We must also remember that behind these figures are devastated families, friends and communities. I urge policy makers and the media to bear that in mind today as they discuss this topic. We cannot afford to increase stigma when too few are accessing the help they need.”
Read the full report by The National Records of Scotland: Alcohol-specific deaths at five year low – National Records of Scotland (NRS)