Alcohol across society

• Alcohol harm costs society between £27 and £52 billion every year, between 1.4% and 2.7% of national income. (Burton R, 2017)
• Alcohol harm costs the NHS at least £3.5 billion every year, although this is likely an underestimate (NHS)
• The OECD calculates that the cost to the UK healthcare system stands at 3%, which by 2023 figures would mean a cost of over £8 billion. (OECD, 2021)

What are the total costs of alcohol to society? by The Institute of Alcohol Studies

The phenomenon where as the level of socioeconomic deprivation increases, so does alcohol-specific mortality, despite such groups consuming less alcohol

What is the alcohol harm paradox? by The Institute of Alcohol Studies

• Every year, workplace hangovers are estimated to cost the UK economy between £1.2bn and £1.4bn

How much do workplace hangovers cost the UK economy? by The Institute of Alcohol Studies

• Lower socioeconomic groups are more likely to experience high frequency alcohol-related anti-social behaviour; around half of those from the lowest socioeconomic groups who ever experienced this in the last year experienced it every week or more often (IAS, 2020)
• 1 in 10 people experience alcohol-related antisocial behaviour every year. (ONS, 2019)

• Incidence rates for alcohol-related domestic violence among the most disadvantaged groups were up to 14 times higher compared with the least disadvantaged (IAS, 2020)
• 1 in 5 people in England had been harmed by others drinking alcohol over a single year. (Beynon, C. et al, 2019)
• In England, approximately 200,000 children are predicted to live with an alcohol dependent parent. (Pryce, R. et al. 2017)
• These children are six times more likely to experience domestic violence, three times more likely to consider suicide, and two or three times more likely to go on to have addiction problems themselves. (Nacoa, 2023)

• People who experience homelessness have an increased risk of problem drug and alcohol use and are at increased risk of a range of acute and chronic harms including poisoning, seizures, liver disease, cancers, assault and injuries, putting them at high risk of premature death. (Parkes et al. 2021)
• Alcohol-specific causes accounted for almost one in 10 (9.6%) of estimated deaths of homeless people registered in 2021. (ONS, 2022)
• 9% of people starting treatment for alcohol in 2021/22 reported a housing problem. (OHID, 2023)