The Scottish Health Survey 2024 - volume 1: main report

9. Alcohol

Helena Wilson

9.1     Introduction

Alcohol consumption has been identified as a risk factor for over 200 diseases, injuries, and health conditions including cardiovascular disease, liver disease and cancer, as well as mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety. It has also been linked to wider social and economic impacts including employment, financial and relationship issues[i]. In 2024, 1,185 people in Scotland died from alcohol-specific causes, the lowest number recorded since 2019[ii].

Alcohol consumption has been reported to interact with other health-related behaviours such as smoking, physical inactivity and obesity[iii]. In the UK, alcohol has been reported to be the top risk for ill-health, disability and death among those aged between 15 and 49, as well as being a significant risk factor for individuals of all ages[iv]. Existing inequalities mean that the burden of alcohol-related morbidity and mortality is greatest among those living in the most deprived areas[iv,v].

9.1.1     Policy background

The Scottish Government takes a whole population approach, which aims to reduce alcohol consumption and the risk of alcohol-related harms across the population, in line with the World Health Organization’s focus on affordability, availability and attractiveness of alcohol.

One of the concrete examples of tackling alcohol-related harm in Scotland was the introduction of Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) in 2018, setting the minimum price of one unit of alcohol to 50p. Since then, the Scottish Parliament has agreed to continue the effect of the MUP legislation beyond 30 April 2024 and to raise the level it is set at to 65p per unit, which came into force on 30 September 2024, aiming to further increase its public health benefits. An independent evaluation[vi] of MUP suggests that, during the period it was reviewed, MUP was estimated to have reduced alcohol-related deaths by 13.4% and likely to have reduced hospital admissions by 4.1% compared to what would have happened if MUP had not been in place.

Furthermore, a newly published Population Health Framework[vii] sets out what more can be done to mitigate against the social and economic drivers of ill health and health inequalities to build a Scotland that positively supports health and wellbeing. This includes factors that can harm health including alcohol.

9.1.2     Reporting on alcohol consumption in the Scottish Health Survey

In this chapter the following data are presented for adults:

• weekly alcohol consumption
• number of days on which adults drank alcohol in the past week

Figures are reported by age, sex and area deprivation.

An interactive data dashboard is also available presenting key indicators for Scotland, NHS Boards and local authority areas.

The area deprivation data are presented in Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) quintiles. To ensure that the comparisons presented are not confounded by the different age profiles of the quintiles, the data have been age-standardised. For a detailed description of both SIMD and age-standardisation as well as definitions of other terminology used in this chapter and for further details on the data collection methods for alcohol consumption and days on which alcohol was consumed, please refer to the Scottish Health Survey 2024 - volume 2: technical report.

Please note that some caution should be exercised when interpreting data for 2021 within any time series data presented due to some methodological changes during the pandemic. Please see the 2022 Scottish Health Survey technical report

9.1.3     Comparability with other UK statistics

The Health Survey for England [viii], Health Survey Northern Ireland[ix] and the National Survey for Wales[x] provide estimates of alcohol prevalence in the other UK countries. The surveys are conducted separately and have different sampling methodologies, so alcohol prevalence estimates across the surveys are only partially comparable.

9.2     Results

Summary points

In 2024:

• The prevalence of hazardous or harmful alcohol consumption remained at 20% of adults, the same proportion as in 2023 and a decrease from 34% in 2003. The proportion of males that drank to hazardous or harmful levels was more than twice as high as that of females (29% and 13% respectively).
• The prevalence of hazardous or harmful weekly alcohol consumption varied with age, with the highest levels recorded for those aged 55-64 (28%).
• Adults living in the least deprived areas were more likely to drink to a hazardous or harmful level (26%) compared with those in the most deprived areas (15%).
• Of adults who consumed alcohol in the week prior to interview, 8% reported doing so every day in 2023/2024 combined. This proportion increased with age from 1% of those aged 16-24 to 20% of those aged 75 and over.

9.2.1     The prevalence of hazardous or harmful alcohol consumption in 2024 remained at the lowest level recorded

An overall decrease in the prevalence of hazardous or harmful alcohol consumption among adults has been recorded, from 34% in 2003 to 20% in both 2023 and 2024.

In 2024, the proportion of males that drank to hazardous or harmful levels was more than twice as high as that of females (29% and 13% respectively), although there has been a decline for both sexes since 2003.

The mean units of alcohol consumed per week among adults who had consumed alcohol in the past year was 11.3 units in 2024, the same level as in 2021 and the lowest level recorded. As in previous years, mean alcohol unit consumption in 2024 continued to be higher among males compared with females (15.0 units and 7.8 units respectively).

Across the timeseries, the proportion of adults who were non-drinkers has risen overall from 11% in 2003 to 20% in 2024. A higher proportion of females have been non-drinkers compared with males, with figures for 2024 of 22% and 18% respectively.  

Figure 9A, Table 9.1

9.2.2     The prevalence of hazardous or harmful alcohol consumption varied with age

In 2024, the prevalence of hazardous or harmful alcohol consumption was highest among adults aged 55-64 (28%) and lowest among those aged 35-44 and 25-34 (13% and 14% respectively).

Similarly, those aged 55-64 recorded the highest mean units of alcohol consumer per week (14.1 units) while those aged 35-44 and 25-34 recorded the lowest mean units (8.8 units and 9.2 units respectively).

As recorded in previous years, males reported higher levels of hazardous or harmful drinking than females across all age groups, particularly among those aged 45 and over where the proportion of males was in the range 19 – 21 percentage points higher than among females.

Figure 9B, Table 9.2

9.2.3     Adults living in the least deprived areas of Scotland were more likely to drink at a hazardous or harmful level

The proportion of adults (age-standardised) who reported a hazardous or harmful level of drinking varied by area deprivation, with 26% in the least deprived quintile and 15% in the most deprived quintile. This pattern was also evident by sex.

No linear pattern was evident among drinkers with regards to the mean units of alcohol consumed per week when analysed by area deprivation, for adults overall or when analysed by sex.

Table 9.3

9.2.4     Mean number of days on which adult drinkers drank alcohol in the previous week increased with age

Just under one in ten adults (8%) who consumed alcohol in the week prior to interview in 2023/2024 combined reported doing so every day.

The proportion of drinkers who consumed alcohol every day in the previous week increased with age, from 1% of drinkers aged 16-24 to 20% of those aged 75 and over. This pattern was observed for both sexes.

The mean number of days on which adult drinkers drank alcohol in the week prior to interview was 2.6 days, a mean which increased from 1.8 days for those aged 16-24 to 3.4 days for those aged 75 and over. This pattern by age was observed for both males and females.

Figure 9C, Table 9.4

Table List

Table 9.1  Estimated usual weekly alcohol consumption level, 2003 to 2024, by sex

Table 9.2  Estimated usual weekly alcohol consumption level, 2024, by age and sex

Table 9.3  Estimated usual weekly alcohol consumption level (age-standardised), 2024, by area deprivation and sex

Table 9.4  Number of days on which adult drinkers drank alcohol in the past week, 2023/2024 combined, by age and sex