Alcohol-specific deaths registered in Northern Ireland, 2023

Date published: 18 December 2024

Topics: Alcohol Deaths

NISRA has today, at 9.30am, published figures for alcohol-specific deaths registered in Northern Ireland, 2023.

Key points

Latest figures show that there were 341 registered alcohol-specific deaths in 2023. This was 15 less than the previous year and accounted for 2.0% of all deaths registered in 2023. Over the decade, Northern Ireland has seen deaths due to alcohol-specific causes rise by 65.5%.
It should be noted that registration-based figures build in delays arising from system wide processes which can drive annual fluctuations in the series. Annual changes in the numbers of registered deaths should therefore be interpreted with caution.
In 2023, almost two-thirds (65.4%) of the 341 deaths were male. Males have consistently accounted for more alcohol-specific deaths each year than females, accounting for 66.5% of alcohol-specific deaths registered between 2013 and 2023.
The alcohol-specific age-standardised mortality rate per 100,000 people was 18.5 in 2023, lower than in the previous three years.
The alcohol-specific death rate (adjusted for age) for males in 2023 was 24.7, nearly twice the rate for females, which stood at 12.5 deaths per 100,000 population. The data further indicates that between 2013 and 2023, the corresponding alcohol-specific mortality rate for males increased by 35.7% while the rate for females saw a 95.3% increase (from 6.4 per 100,000 to 12.5 per 100,000 population).
Alcohol-specific deaths continue to be more prevalent among the 45-54 and 55-64 age groups, which together accounted for 63.9% of all alcohol-specific deaths registered in 2023. However, the 55-64 age group continues to have the highest age-specific mortality rate at 47.6 per 100,000 in 2023.
Since 2013, alcoholic liver disease accounted for, on average, two thirds of alcohol-specific deaths, increasing from 69.4% in 2013 to 72.7% in 2023. Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol have consistently been the second most common cause of death accounting for 16.1% of alcohol-specific deaths in 2023.
Belfast Local Government District (LGD) had the highest number of alcohol-specific deaths in 2023 (77), followed by Derry City & Strabane LGD (49). Fermanagh & Omagh LGD had the lowest number (10) of alcohol-specific deaths in 2023.
Looking at the most recent five years together (2019 to 2023), there were almost four times as many alcohol-specific deaths in the most deprived areas compared to the least deprived areas.

Further statistics on Alcohol-specific deaths can be found at: Alcohol Deaths | Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (nisra.gov.uk)

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