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Alcohol misuse imposes a heavy burden on the health and wider public sector, both in terms of the cost of treating alcohol-related diseases and the demand on NHS services.

The annual Statistics on alcohol: England, 2015 report suggests that the percentage of adults who do not drink alcohol has increased and the proportion of adults who binged on alcohol at least once a week has decreased since 2005. Despite this apparent improvement, the number of people drinking at levels that may cause a risk to their health remains high. 

The report states: “In 2013, 15 per cent of men and 20 per cent of women did not drink any alcohol in the last year; 63 per cent of men and 64 per cent of women drank at levels indicating lower risk of harm; 18 per cent of men and 13 per cent of women drank at an increased risk of harm, and five per cent of men and three per cent of women drank at higher risk levels.”

In 2013/14, there were an estimated 1,059,210 alcohol-related hospital admissions. This is estimated as five per cent more admissions than in 2012/13 and 115 per cent more than in 2003/4. In England, there were 6,592 alcohol-related deaths in 2013, which is a one per cent increase from 2012 and a 10 per cent increase from 2003.

The estimated cost to the NHS of alcohol misuse is £3.5 billion every year, which is equal to £120 for every taxpayer. Alcohol is also involved in a wide range of other social and health issues, such as offending behaviours including domestic violence, child abuse and child neglect; suicide and deliberate self-harm; mental health problems, and homelessness.