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.

Latest figures show that there were 356 registered alcohol-specific deaths in 2022. This was six more than the previous year and accounted for 2.1% of all deaths registered in 2022. It is important to note that registration-based figures build in delays arising from system wide processes which can drive annual fluctuations in the series. Over the decade, NI has seen deaths due to alcohol-specific causes rise by 45.9%.

In 2022, almost two-thirds (65.2%) of the 356 deaths were male. Males have consistently accounted for more such deaths each year, than females, accounting for 66.5% of alcohol specific deaths registered between 2012 and 2022.

The alcohol-specific death rate (adjusted for age) for males in 2022 was 26.1, nearly twice the rate for females, which stood at 13.2 deaths per 100,000 population. The data further indicates that between 2012 and 2022, the corresponding alcohol-specific mortality rate for males increased by 32.5%, from 19.7 to 26.1 per 100,000. The rate for females also saw a 33.3% increase from 9.9 per 100,000 13.2 per 100,000.