How does alcohol affect our health?

Alcohol impacts our health and wellbeing in many different ways, from causing headaches, sleepless nights, and feeling “off” the next day, to an increased risk of more serious long-term health conditions like increased blood pressure, cholesterol and even types of cancer

Alcohol is sometimes used by people to try manage symptoms of anxiety and depression, but alcohol is likely to make those symptoms worse in the long run (Mental Health Foundation, 2022)

Alcohol is a causal factor in more than 200 medical conditions, including high blood pressure, liver scarring, and cancers (Rehm et al., 2010)

According to Cancer Research UK, drinking alcohol causes 7 different types of cancer:

• Breast cancer and bowel cancer, two of the most common types
• Mouth cancer
• Some types of throat cancer: oesophagus (food pipe), larynx (voice box) and pharynx (upper throat)
• Liver cancer

Read our factsheet on alcohol and cancer

Alcohol is the biggest risk factor for death, ill-health, and disability among 15-49 year-olds in the UK, and the fifth biggest risk factor across all ages (Burton et al., 2016)

How much alcohol do we drink in the UK?

The Chief Medical Officers’ low-risk drinking guidelines recommend that adults do not drink more than 14 units a week, spread evenly over 3 or more days.

Read more about units and check your consumption with our unit calculator

Around 1 in 5 people in the UK report not drinking alcohol at all:

• England: 19% (NHS Digital, 2024)
• Northern Ireland: 22% (Northern Irish Government, 2025)
• Scotland: 22% (Scottish Government, 2023)
• Wales: 17% (Welsh Government, 2023)

Units of pure alcohol consumed each week

• In England in 2022, the mean number of units consumed by all adults aged over 16 years of age was 13.3 (NHS Digital, 2024)
• In Scotland in 2022, the average number of units of alcohol consumed by all adults who drink was 12.6 units, ranging significantly by age from 15.5 units among those aged 16-24 years to 10.2 among those aged 75+ (Scottish Government, 2023)
• In Wales in 2022/23, average annual alcohol consumption in units amongst those who drink was 508 units per year (Welsh Government, 2023). According to Alcohol Change UK calculations, this equates to around 9.74 units per week

Across the four nations, a significant proportion of adults regularly drink over the Chief Medical Officers’ low-risk guidelines:

England: 24% (NHS Digital, 2024)

• 32% of men and 15% of women

Northern Ireland: 16% (Northern Irish Government, 2024)

• 25% of men and 9% of women

Scotland: 22% (Scottish Government, 2023)

• 31% of men and 15% of women

Wales: 17% (Welsh Government, 2023)

• 25% of men and 10% of women

For more alcohol-related statistics, please click here.