Public Health Scotland has published its latest statistics on alcohol harm in Scotland, and the results tell two different stories. Deaths linked to drinking fell sharply last year. Hospital admissions held firm, though, and the gap between Scotland’s richest and poorest communities remains vast.

Public Health Scotland updated the Alcohol Consumption and Harms Dashboard on 1 September. It covers conditions where alcohol is only one of several contributing factors, rather than the sole cause. These are known as partially attributable harms. They sit alongside conditions that are wholly caused by drinking, such as alcoholic liver disease. Together they build a fuller picture of how deeply alcohol touches the nation’s health.

The Numbers Behind Alcohol Harm in Scotland

In 2024, the estimated hospital admission rate for drink related harm in Scotland was 424 per 100,000 among over 16s. That matched the rate recorded in 2023. Men were 40% more likely than women to end up in hospital for a drink related condition. The rates were 501.6 per 100,000 for men and 357.7 for women.

Deaths moved in a more encouraging direction. The estimated rate fell to 32.7 per 100,000 in 2024, a drop of 12% on 2023. Even so, men remained 56% more likely than women to die from an alcohol related condition. The death rate stood at 40.3 per 100,000 for men, against 25.8 for women.

Scotland’s Poorest Communities Still Bear the Brunt

The most troubling figures concern inequality. People living in Scotland’s most deprived areas faced an alcohol death rate of 51.2 per 100,000 in 2024. That is nearly three times the rate in the least deprived areas, which stood at 18.6 per 100,000.

Craig Collins is Service Manager for Health Harms Intelligence at Public Health Scotland. In a blog accompanying the release, he wrote that drink related harm in Scotland is “not shared equally across society.” He explained that partially attributable conditions, such as certain cancers, cardiovascular disease and diabetes, often go unrecognised as alcohol related. That is because drinking is only one of several risk factors involved. Reducing consumption, he added, remains one of the clearest ways to lower that risk.

Minimum Unit Pricing Given Some Credit

Collins pointed to Minimum Unit Pricing since its introduction. He said it has “contributed to saving lives and slowing the increase in alcohol specific deaths.” The update also changed how Public Health Scotland calculates unrecorded consumption, meaning drinking not captured in retail sales figures. This nudged the 2023 estimates for admissions and deaths upward slightly, though the overall trend stays the same.

Campaigners Say the Latest Government Plan Falls Short

The figures landed the same day First Minister John Swinney set out his Programme for Government for 2026 to 2031. In it, he pledged to treat drug use as a public health emergency. He also committed £250 million to a national mission on drugs. That includes more residential rehabilitation beds and expanded mental health support.

Alcohol Focus Scotland was quick to argue that alcohol harm in Scotland deserves the same urgency. Chief executive Carolyn Lochhead said the government was right to call Scotland’s relationship with alcohol a public health emergency. But she argued the Programme for Government “doesn’t back up these words with action proportionate to the scale of damage to Scotland’s health, economy and wellbeing.”

Lochhead pointed to Scotland’s record as an early adopter of population wide prevention measures such as Minimum Unit Pricing. She called the lack of further ambition “frustrating.” She called for automatic uprating of the policy so inflation cannot erode its impact over time. She also urged reform of the licensing system and tighter restrictions on alcohol marketing.

Why Prevention Still Matters Most

Taken together, the new figures make a simple case. The biggest gains against drink related harm in Scotland have come from stopping alcohol reaching people in the first place. The damage is far harder to treat once it has already happened. With admissions unchanged and inequality still stark, the calls from campaigners for stronger, earlier prevention look difficult to ignore.

The next update to the Alcohol Consumption and Harms Dashboard is due in December 2026.

Source: dbrecoveryresources