Representational image. AP
New Delhi: With alcohol consumption increasing during the pandemic, the number of people drinking themselves to death in the UK rose to record levels in 2021.
According to a report in Bloomberg, “A total of 9,641 died from alcohol-specific causes, according to the Office for National Statistics, a 7.4% increase on 2020 figures and 27.4% higher than pre-pandemic levels. Men were twice as likely to die than women, and the fatality rate was highest in the 50s-60s age.”
According to a May 2021 report, alcohol-related deaths in England and Wales jumped by a fifth last year to reach their highest level in two decades.
The Office for National Statistics had said earlier there were 7,423 deaths attributed to alcohol misuse in 2020, a 19.6% increase from 2019. It said the majority were due to chronic conditions, such as alcohol-related liver disease.
The rise began in March 2020, when the U.K. began its first coronavirus lockdown, and the rates for the rest of the year remained significantly higher than in previous years.
The provisional data showed that alcohol-specific deaths among men were 4.2 times higher in the poorest areas of Wales and England than in the most affluent areas.
The statistics office said complex factors contributed to the rise in deaths and that it may be some time before the causes are fully understood. It said, however, that it was clear high-risk drinkers increased their alcohol consumption during the pandemic.
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