North East worst affected region in the country for alcohol related deaths
Last updated 1st May 2025
An urgent plea to reduce alcohol-related deaths has been issued after “tragic” figures show the North East is the worst-affected region in the country.
A record high 124 deaths specifically caused by alcohol were recorded in County Durham in 2023 – the fourth consecutive year a new record has been reported by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). A further 53 deaths were recorded in 2023 compared to 2013.
In Darlington, the number of deaths reduced to 25 from 2022 but figures show a stark increase over the last five years, as alcohol-related deaths jumped significantly during the Covid pandemic.
The combined total of alcohol-based deaths in the North East increased to 689 from 576 in 2022. These are deaths where health conditions are a direct consequence of alcohol, such as alcoholic liver disease.
County Durham-based charity Balance called for greater support and new prevention measures.
Sue Taylor, Head of Alcohol Policy at Balance, said: “It is absolutely tragic to see the new alcohol-specific deaths figures, with the worst rates again here in the North East.
“Our region lost 689 lives directly to alcohol in 2023 and behind the harrowing statistics of illness, death and hospital admissions, are grieving families and communities, torn apart by alcohol harms.
“We have seen a huge increase in alcohol deaths since the pandemic and due to multiple factors, such as deprivation and co-morbidities, the North East has suffered disproportionately.”
Experts have called for measures such as minimum unit pricing, health warnings on labels and tighter advertising regulations to be brought in.
Ms Taylor added: “In spite of excellent partnership working to reduce alcohol harms within the region, we urgently need action at a national level to turn the tide – measures which reduce the affordability, availability and promotion of alcohol are hugely effective and cost effective at reducing alcohol harm and ours is the region which would benefit most from an evidence-based national approach to alcohol harm reduction.
“For the Government’s Growth and Health missions to succeed, we urgently need a national alcohol strategy which prioritises prevention and which helps to prevent more families from the devastation of losing their loved ones in the future.”
Last year Easington MP Grahame Morris called on the Government to introduce a comprehensive Alcohol Strategy without delay, to address the escalating alcohol harm crisis.
Mr Morris, chair of the Drugs, Alcohol and Justice APPG (All-Party Parliamentary Group) at Westminster, said: “Another record number of deaths and once again the North East is the worst-affected area in England, and now is higher than Scotland. The statistics don’t tell the full trauma, as all these tragedies leave families in despair.”
He also wrote to the Minister for Public Health about the growing crisis of alcohol harm, particularly in the North East, urging action to ease the pressure on the NHS and save “countless lives that are currently – and needlessly – being lost to alcohol in the UK.”