During the pandemic, deaths caused by alcohol rose sharply across the UK.

Since then, deaths have continued to go up, external in England – although more slowly than in previous years. Most deaths are in men, from alcohol-related liver disease, who are dying early – before the age of 75.

The Alcohol Health Alliance, which represents 60 organisations working to reduce the harm it causes, says it’s “an alarming trend” that ripples through society “putting growing pressure on our economy and health services”.

Heavy drinking cuts lives short, shatters families and leaves children to cope with grief and trauma, it says.

The alliance predicts further rises in deaths from alcohol “and an ever greater burden on our healthcare system and society”.

Its chairman, Prof Sir Ian Gilmore, said: “Without bold, decisive action, these preventable deaths will continue to climb. Addressing alcohol harm must be a top public-health priority in 2025, and it requires a cross-government effort to turn the tide on this public-health crisis.”

In Scotland, where alcohol-specific death rates have always been higher, there were 1,277 deaths from alcohol in 2023, external – the same as the previous year.

The Alliance says minimum unit pricing of alcohol in Scotland “has proven effective in reducing alcohol-related harm”.

The policy was introduced in Scotland in 2018. The minimum cost of a unit of alcohol there has risen from 50p to 65p in recent months. This means no alcoholic drink can be sold for anything below this price.