Essential facts, stats and quotes relating to alcohol use

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Hospital admissions:

• In 2016/17, there were 337,000 estimated admissions where the main reason for admission to hospital was attributable to alcohol. This is 1% lower than 2015/16 and 17% higher than 2006/07.
• This represents 2.1% of all hospital admissions which has changed little in the last 10 years.
• In total 62% of the patients were male.

Deaths:

• In England in 2016, there were 5,507 alcohol-specific deaths. This is 4% higher than 2015 and 11% higher than 2006.
• In total 67% of the deaths were for men.
• Alcohol liver disease accounted for 82% of total alcohol-specific deaths. A further 8% were from mental and behavioural disorders due to the use of alcohol.

Prescriptions relating to alcohol:

• 173,000 prescription items were dispensed in England in 2017, which is 8% lower than 2016 but 41% higher than 2007. This is the second successive year on year decrease.
• The total Net Ingredient Cost (NIC) for items prescribed for alcohol dependence in 2017 was £4.42 million.

Drinking prevalence:

• In 2017, 25.6 million people in England report drinking alcohol in the previous week. This equates to 58% of the population.
• In 2014, 38% of secondary school pupils had ever drunk alcohol, the lowest proportion since the survey began when it was 62%.

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• Some 27% of men and 13% of women in England drink alcohol in a way that presents increasing risk to their health and wellbeing, an estimated 10.4 million people.
• Alcohol has been identified as a causal factor in more than 200 medical conditions.
• It is estimated that 1.4% of the adult population in England (595,000) is dependent on alcohol and potentially in need of specialist assessment and treatment.
• Alcohol’s cost to society: £11 billion alcohol-related crime, £7 billion lost productivity through unemployment and sickness, and £3.5 billion cost to NHS.

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• The proportion of both men and women drinking at increased or higher risk of harm decreased between 2011 and 2016 (from 34% to 31% of men, and from 18% to 16% of women).

• The proportion of children aged 8 to 15 who reported ever having had a proper alcoholic drink (not just a sip) fell from 45% in 2003 to 15% in 2016.

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• Young people in the least deprived areas are more likely to have had an alcoholic drink (66%) and to be regular drinkers (8%) than those in the most deprived areas (44% and 4% respectively).
• Young White people were much more likely to have had an alcoholic drink than those from a Black and Minority Ethnic group background (72% compared with 27%).
• The proportion of children in the UK drinking alcohol remains well above the European average and the majority of 17 year olds do drink alcohol.
• The UK continues to rank among the countries with the highest levels of consumption among those who do drink, and British children are more likely to binge drink or get drunk compared to children in most other European countries.

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• Alcohol costs society:
  • £11 billion in alcohol-related crime;
  • £7 billion in lost productivity through unemployment and sickness; and
  • £3.5 billion cost to NHS.
• 10.8 million adults in England are drinking at levels that pose some risk to their health.

• 1.6 million adults in England may have some level of alcohol dependence, although not all of these need specialist treatment. A proportion of these will benefit from a brief intervention.

• Alcohol has been identified as a casual factor in more than 60 medical conditions.

• The new guideline on alcohol consumption produced by the Chief Medical Officer warns that drinking any level of alcohol increases the risk of a range of cancers including:
  • mouth;
  • bowel;
  • stomach;
  • liver; and
  • breast.
• An estimated 44% of community mental health patients have reported problem drug use or harmful alcohol use in the previous year.

• There is a strong association between alcohol misuse and suicide. The National confidential inquiry into suicide and homicide by people with mental illness found that there was a history of alcohol misuse in 45% of suicides among the patient population during period 2002 to 2011.

• In 2013/14 there were 333,014 hospital admissions where the main reason was alcohol-related (a 1.3% increase from 2012/13).

• Excessive alcohol consumption is a major cause of preventable premature death. It accounts for 1.4% of all deaths registered in England and Wales in 2012.

• Liver disease is one of the leading causes of death in England and people are dying from it at younger ages. Alcohol accounts for over a third of all cases of liver disease. Most liver disease is preventable.

• There were 17,432 deaths from liver disease between 2011 and 2013 (a 15% increase since 2002).

• Children affected by parental alcohol misuse are more likely to have physical, psychological and behavioural problems.

• Alcohol plays a part in 25-33% of known cases of child abuse.

• In a study of young offending cases where the young person was also misusing alcohol, 78% had a history of parental alcohol abuse or domestic abuse within the family.

• In England, alcohol dependence is more common in men (6%) than in women (2%). This gender difference is found to be the case all over the world and is one of only a few key gender differences in social behaviour.

• The impact of harmful drinking and alcohol dependence is much greater for those in the lowest income bracket and those experiencing the highest levels of deprivation.

• Councils with the highest rates are situated predominantly within the North West.

• 150,640 people in England received specialist treatment for alcohol dependence in 2014/15 (60% for problematic drinking only and 40% for alcohol alongside other substances).

• For every 100 alcohol-dependent people treated, at a cost of £40,000, a £60,000 saving is made as it prevents 18 A&E visits and 22 hospital admissions.

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• The Chief Medical Officers’ guideline for both men and women is that:
  • you are safest not to drink regularly more than 14 units per week, to keep health risks from drinking alcohol to a low level;
  • if you do drink as much as 14 units per week, it is best to spread this evenly over 3 days or more. If you have one or two heavy drinking sessions, you increase your risks of death from long term illnesses and from accidents and injuries;
  • the risk of developing a range of illnesses (including, for example, cancers of the mouth, throat and breast) increases with any amount you drink on a regular basis; and
  • if you wish to cut down the amount you’re drinking, a good way to help achieve this is to have several drink-free days each week.

• This review found that the benefits of alcohol for heart health only apply for women aged 55 and over. The greatest benefit is seen when these women limit their intake to around 5 units a week, the equivalent of around 2 standard glasses of wine. The group concluded that there is no justification for drinking for health reasons.

• An additional recommendation is not to ‘save up’ the 14 units for 1 or 2 days, but to spread them over 3 or more days. People who have 1 or 2 heavy drinking sessions each week increase the risk of death from long term illnesses, accidents and injuries. A good way to reduce alcohol intake is to have several alcohol free days a week.

• The guidelines for pregnant women have also been updated to clarify that no level of alcohol is safe to drink in pregnancy. The previous advice for pregnant women to limit themselves to no more than 1 to 2 units of alcohol once or twice per week has been removed to provide greater clarity as a precaution.

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• From 2008/09 to 2013/14, A&E attendance rates in England likely to be due to alcohol poisoning doubled, from 72.7 per 100,000 population to 148.8 per 100,000 population (a 104.6% increase).

• From 2005/06 to 2013/14, inpatient admissions specific to alcohol increased by 63.6%: there was a 143.3% increase in elective admissions (from 45.5 per 100,000 population to 110.8 per 100,000 population) and a 53.9% increase in emergency admissions (from 374.9 per 100,000 population to 577.1 per 100,000 population). In 2013/14, approximately 1 in 20 emergency admissions and 1 in 120 elective admissions were for alcohol-specific conditions (although they may not have been the primary cause for admission in all cases).

• Three in four of those who attended A&E due to likely alcohol poisoning arrived by ambulance. One in three were subsequently admitted to hospital overnight, in comparison to one in five of those attending A&E for other reasons. This places potentially avoidable strain on ambulance trusts, A&E and hospital services.

• The highest rates of alcohol-related emergency admissions were seen in men and in the older age groups. In 2013/14, the highest rates of emergency admission were found in 45–64-year-old men (1,126.0 per 100,000 population). This may reflect the chronicity of alcohol-related diagnoses and the contribution of alcohol to many long-term conditions that are more prevalent in older age groups.

• A&E attendance rates that are likely to be due to alcohol poisoning and hospital emergency admissions specific to alcohol were three to four times higher in the poorest fifth of the population. This difference has been consistent over the past five years – a finding supported by other studies.

• While alcohol is a cause of avoidable demand on the NHS, hospitals alone cannot tackle this issue. Action to reduce harmful alcohol use requires a collaborative effort, involving GPs, community pharmacists, the police, education and licensing authorities.

• The effect is not only evident in hospital care, with 22 to 35% of GP visits estimated to be related to alcohol.

• In 2013/14, over 50% of all A&E attendances likely to be due to alcohol poisoning were over Friday, Saturday and Sunday (51.1% or 33,653 out of 65,882). Across the week, A&E attendances likely to be due to alcohol poisoning increased throughout the evening and peaked between midnight and 2am before reducing to its lowest level at about 7am. The highest volume of attendances in the early hours of the morning was seen in younger age groups, particularly those aged 15–24 years.

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• The majority of UK adults drink alcohol whilst only a small minority claim to never drink. At present, 87% of UK adult drink at least once a year and 11% say they never do so.

• The frequency of alcohol consumption by UK adults is reasonably high ith 60% drinking alcohol at least once a week.

• Alcohol consumption is higher, and more frequent, among men and older age groups.