UK alcohol-related deaths on the rise in the over-50's

7,565 people died in the UK due to diseases known to be a direct consequence of alcohol misuse in 2019 - the second-highest figure since data collection began in 2001. With the exception of Scotland and London, alcohol-specific death rates have increased across the UK since 2001, but as ONS data shows, this rise has not been seen across all age groups.

Up until the age of 49, death rates per 100,000 people have decreased over the 18 year period for all groups. As this infographic shows though, the problem has become significantly larger in the over fifties with every five year age group experiencing an increase since 2001. According to the ONS: "Given that the definition of alcohol-specific deaths includes mostly chronic conditions, such as alcoholic liver disease, the increased rates in the older age groups may be a consequence of misuse of alcohol that began years, or even decades, earlier." The most common alcohol-specific deaths are caused by alcoholic liver disease (77 percent), mental and behavioural disorders due to the use of alcohol (13 percent), and accidental poisoning by and exposure to alcohol (6 percent).