27 October 2026
Last year, 1,152 people in Scotland died from conditions caused by alcohol.
That’s 3% fewer than the year before. Any fall is welcome, but every one of those deaths leaves a family grieving, and each could have been prevented with the right help at the right time. Today my thoughts are with them all.
Alcohol deaths still outnumber drug deaths, which have rightly been described as a public health crisis.
And even that understates the situation. The figures published today only count deaths wholly caused by alcohol. They leave out the cancers, heart conditions and injuries that alcohol contributes to.
The true toll of alcohol in Scotland is much, much higher. It’s estimated that alcohol plays a part in as many as one in every 15 deaths in Scotland.
Each year, there are also around 30,000 hospital admissions for conditions caused by alcohol. There’s a financial cost too. Alcohol harm is estimated to cost Scotland between £5bn and £10bn a year, including up to £700m in health and social care and £1.2bn in lost productivity.
And for every death and every hospital admission, there are many more people whose drinking is harming their health and their relationships, but who don’t know where to turn or how to ask for help.
Almost all of us in Scotland know someone living with that quiet struggle.
The harm isn’t shared equally, either. People in our most deprived communities are almost five times more likely to die from alcohol than those in the least deprived.
Just like with drug deaths, poverty, trauma and isolation are the conditions alcohol harm grows out of, and that gap won’t close until we tackle them. Prevention means reaching people long before crisis.
Too many people never reach support at all. Audit Scotland estimates that only one in four adults with alcohol dependence is in contact with services. Stigma is a big part of why. People fear being judged and worry about what asking for help might mean for their job or family.
Part of the challenge is how deeply alcohol runs through Scottish life.
We drink to celebrate at weddings, to mark a win at the football and to say goodbye at funerals. When alcohol is at the centre of almost everything we do, it’s hard to see when your own drinking has become a problem, and even harder to say so out loud.
Many people who come to us were social drinkers for most of their lives until something changed. Retirement, bereavement or loneliness can turn a habit into a dependency, and it can happen to anyone.
Audit Scotland has also found that the focus on drug deaths in recent years shifted attention away from alcohol. That focus on drugs was needed. But alcohol harm now needs real urgency too.
While I welcome the commitments in Scotland’s Alcohol and Drugs Strategic Plan, they must now deliver real change. We’re calling for specific actions and ring-fenced resources for alcohol, and for standards covering all drug and alcohol treatment to arrive as soon as possible.
The commitment to trial Alcohol Care Teams is welcome. We want them in every major hospital, so a crisis becomes a way into support. We also want access to detox wherever someone lives. Families need support in their own right, not just as a route to helping someone else. The promised alcohol harm prevention action plan must also deliver stronger regulation of pricing, advertising and availability.
No single parliament can fix this. But every step means fewer families facing the loss behind today’s figures.
If you’re worried about your own drinking or someone else’s, you don’t have to wait until things get worse. Our support is free and confidential, and you can talk to us online seven days a week at www.wearewithyou.org.uk/scotland.
Louise Stewart, Director for Scotland, WithYou
