Derry second highest rate of alcohol-specific deaths in North in 2024

Derry and Strabane Local Government District (LGD) had the second highest rate of alcohol-specific deaths in the North in 2024, just behind Belfast LGD.

In 2024 in the Derry and Strabane LGD, 38 people (25.6 per 100,000 of the population) died from alcohol-specific conditions. In Belfast LGD the figure was 96 people (31.1 per 100,000 of the population).

The statistics were contained in NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) figures for alcohol-specific deaths registered in Northern Ireland in 2024, published on Wednesday. 

The definition of alcohol-specific deaths includes conditions known to be exclusively caused by alcohol and excludes conditions which may only be partially attributed to alcohol use.

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2024 marks a decline in alcohol-specific deaths in Strabane and Derry LGD, which has increased every year since 2020.

In 2020 there were 32 (22.6 per 100,000) alcohol-specific deaths here, with 42 (28.4 per 100,000) in 2021, 40 (28.1 per 100,000) in 2022, and 49 (33.6 per 100,000) in 2023.

Looking at the statistics across the North for the most recent five years together (2020 to 2024), there were almost four times as many alcohol-specific deaths in the most deprived areas compared to the least deprived areas.

Latest figures show that there were 397 registered alcohol-specific deaths in 2024. This accounted for 2.2% of all deaths registered in 2024. From 2014, the series has seen deaths due to alcohol-specific causes rise by 81.3% from 219.

It should be noted that registration-based figures build in delays arising from system wide processes which can drive annual fluctuations.

In 2024, almost two-thirds (64.5%) of the 397 deaths were male. Males have consistently accounted for more registered deaths each year, than females, accounting for 65.9% of alcohol-specific deaths registered between 2014 and 2024.

The alcohol-specific death rate (adjusted for age) for males in 2024 was 28.1, nearly twice the rate for females, which stood at 14.9 deaths per 100,000 population. 

The figures further indicate that between 2014 and 2024, the corresponding alcohol-specific mortality rate for males increased by 51.1%, from 18.6 to 28.1 per 100,000. The rate for females also saw a 104.1% increase from 7.3 per 100,000 to 14.9 per 100,000.

Alcohol-specific deaths continue to be more prevalent among the 45-54 and 55-64 age groups, which together accounted for 59.4% of all alcohol-specific deaths registered in 2024. This represents a decline when compared with the average across the combined years of 2014-2024 (62.9%).

Since 2014, alcoholic liver diseases have accounted for, on average, two thirds of alcohol-specific deaths, decreasing from 68.5% in 2014 to 64.7% in 2024. Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol have commonly been the second most common cause of death among alcohol-specific deaths over the same period, accounting for 15.4% of alcohol-specific deaths in 2024.

Looking at the most recent five years together (2020 to 2024), there were almost four times as many alcohol-specific deaths in the most deprived areas compared to the least deprived areas.