Official Statistics

Alcohol Profiles for England: short statistical commentary, May 2024

Published 8 May 2024

Applies to England

What’s new

The Alcohol Profile on the Fingertips platform has been updated. The following new indicator has been added to the profile and is available at local authority level as well as for England, the regions and various inequality groups:

• potential working years of life lost (PWYLL) due to alcohol-related conditions

The following indicators have been updated and are available at local authority level as well as for England, the regions and various inequality groups:

• admission episodes for alcohol-related conditions (narrow)
• admission episodes for alcohol-related conditions (broad)
• admission episodes for alcohol-specific conditions
• admission episodes for alcohol-related conditions (narrow): under 40
• admission episodes for alcohol-related conditions (narrow): 40 to 64
• admission episodes for alcohol-related conditions (narrow): 65 and over
• admission episodes for alcohol-specific conditions: under 18
• admission episodes for alcohol-related unintentional injuries (narrow)
• admission episodes for mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol (narrow)
• admission episodes for intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to alcohol (narrow)
• admission episodes for alcohol-related cardiovascular disease (broad)
• admission episodes for mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol (broad)
• admission episodes for alcoholic liver disease (broad)

Following the publication by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) of rebased mid-year population estimates based on the results of the Census 2021, all hospital admission trends have been recalculated and restored to the Alcohol Profile.

Introduction

The Alcohol Profile brings together indicators related to alcohol including alcohol-specific and alcohol-related mortality and hospital admissions. The indicators in the Alcohol Profile were selected following consultation with stakeholders and a review of the availability of routine data. The profile is part of a series of products by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) that provide local data alongside national comparisons to support local health improvement.

Main findings

This update shows:

• in 2022, there were 151,010 potential working years of life lost in England due to alcohol-related conditions which was an increase of 18.2% from 127,708 in 2016, the earliest data available, and a 2.2% increase from 147,687 in 2021
• the rate of potential working years of life lost due to alcohol among males was more than double the rate in females
• for both males and females, the rate of potential working years of life lost due to alcohol was highest in the North East region and lowest in the London region. In addition, the rate for those living in the most deprived tenth of lower tier local authority areas was more than double the rate for those living in the least deprived tenth of lower tier local authority areas

Potential working years of life lost (PWYLL)

Potential working years of life lost (PWYLL) is a measure of premature mortality. The purpose of the indicator is to estimate the length of time a person could have worked had they not died prematurely. Alcohol-related deaths often occur at relatively young ages. One of the ways to consider the full impact of alcohol on both the individual and wider society is to look at how many working years are lost each year due to premature death as a result of alcohol.

Working years of life lost are calculated as the number of years between a death in those aged 16 to 64 years and the age of 65 years. PWYLL are presented as age standardised rates, which are adjusted for differences in the age structure of the population between areas and population groups.

In 2022 in England, there were 105,545 working years of life lost due to alcohol-related conditions in males, equating to a rate of 484 per 100,000 population. In 2022, there were 45,465 working years of life lost due to alcohol-related conditions in females, equating to a rate of 202 per 100,000. This means the rate of working years of life lost for men is more than double the number for females and this gap has been consistent since 2016, as shown in figure 1.

Figure 1: age standardised potential working years of life lost due to alcohol-related conditions, rate per 100,000 population (adults aged 16 to 64) by sex, England, 2016 to 2022

Source: calculated by OHID Population Health Analysis team from ONS death registration data and ONS mid-year population estimates.

The male PWYLL rate in the most deprived tenth of lower tier local authority areas was 2.2 times higher than the rate in the least deprived tenth (633 and 288 per 100,000 population respectively). The female PWYLL rate in the most deprived tenth of lower tier local authority areas was 2.1 times higher than the rate in the least deprived tenth (254 and 119 per 100,000 population respectively) (figure 2).

Figure 2: age standardised potential working years of life lost due to alcohol-related conditions, rate per 100,000 population (16 to 64), district and unitary authority deprivation deciles, England, 2022

Source: calculated by OHID Population Health Analysis team from ONS death registration data and ONS mid-year population estimates.

Revisions 

The May 2024 update included a full revision of all the admissions data available in the Alcohol Profile. This was required as ONS have released rebased mid-year population estimates for 2012 to 2020 following the results of the 2021 Census.

In 2023, NHS England announced a methodological change that may reduce the number of admissions reported for these indicators. For further details, check the detailed metadata for these indicators on Fingertips.

Definitions

Alcohol-specific mortality

Deaths from conditions wholly caused by alcohol. This definition is also used by ONS in their annual UK data release.

Alcohol-related mortality

Deaths from conditions which are wholly or partially caused by alcohol. For partially attributable conditions, a fraction of the deaths are included based on the latest academic evidence about the contribution alcohol makes to the condition.

Alcohol-specific admissions

Admissions to hospital where the primary diagnosis or any of the secondary diagnoses are an alcohol-specific (wholly attributable) condition.

Alcohol-related admissions (broad)

A measure of hospital admissions where either the primary diagnosis (main reason for admission) or one of the secondary (contributory) diagnoses is an alcohol-related condition (partially or wholly caused by alcohol). This represents a broad measure of alcohol-related admissions but is sensitive to changes in coding practice over time.

Alcohol-related admissions (narrow)

A measure of hospital admissions where the primary diagnosis (main reason for admission) is an alcohol-related condition. This represents a narrower measure. Since every hospital admission must have a primary diagnosis it is less sensitive to coding practices but may also understate the part alcohol plays in the admission.

In general:

• the broad measure gives an indication of the full impact of alcohol on hospital admissions and the burden placed on the NHS

• the narrow measure estimates the number of hospital admissions which are primarily due to alcohol consumption and provides the best indication of trends in alcohol-related hospital admissions

The Alcohol Profile data tool helps local areas assess alcohol-related harm and monitor the progress of efforts to reduce this.

View the Alcohol Profile tool.

Responsible statistician, product lead: Mark Cook.

For queries relating to this publication, contact: profilefeedback@dhsc.gov.uk.