Alcohol deaths surge

For the report, researchers from CDC and the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research used data from the National Vital Statistics System to identify the total number of U.S. deaths related to alcohol between 2016 and 2021.

According to the report, around 178,000 people died from excessive drinking in 2021, which was equal to an average of around 488 deaths per day. In comparison, there were 138,000 deaths from excessive drinking in 2016. Between 2016-17 and 2020-21, the average annual number of deaths related to excessive alcohol use increased by almost 30%.

Increases were seen among both men and women. Men saw a 27% increase in deaths related to excessive alcohol use, while women saw a 35% increase. 

The researchers also looked at 58 total causes of death either directly or indirectly related to excessive alcohol use. Excessive drinking can lead to deaths like alcoholic liver disease, alcohol poisoning, suicide by excessive alcohol use, crashes and falls, and fetal alcohol syndrome. Excessive alcohol use can also be linked to diseases like chronic hepatitis, certain cancers, heart disease, and stroke.

Deaths that were classified as 100% alcohol-attributed chronic deaths — including deaths from alcohol abuse, alcohol cardiomyopathy, and alcoholic liver disease — increased by 48.7% between 2016-17 and 2020-21, the largest increase among all noted causes of death. Similarly, deaths from alcohol-related poisoning increased 45.9% from 2016-17 to 2020-21.

The researchers noted that their estimates of alcohol-related deaths are likely very conservative, as their data only included active drinkers and they did not track deaths from some diseases like tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS for which drinking is a risk factor.

Discussion

Michael Siegel, a professor of public health at Tufts University School of Medicine, said he found the results of the study "really alarming."

"It shows that there's been a truly substantial increase in alcohol-related deaths over the last six years," he said.

The researchers noted that "[s]tress, loneliness, and social isolation; and mental health conditions might also have contributed to the increase in deaths from excessive alcohol use during the Covid-19 pandemic."

Siegel agreed, saying the surge was possibly due to people's high stress levels during the pandemic, as well as the beverage industry offering more home-delivery services. "Anytime you make something easier to acquire, you see an increase in use in response," he said.

In the report, CDC suggested that states and counties could address the death toll by promoting policies to increase alcohol prices, potentially through taxes, and making the products harder to obtain. CDC also recommended mass media campaigns to encourage people to drink less.

"We know that there's a lot of evidence about what works to prevent excessive drinking, and to reduce alcohol-related harm. But the strategies that we know work are often underused in the U.S.," said study author Marissa Esser, from CDC's National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention. "Making alcohol less accessible and less available by having fewer places that sell it, or spreading out the number of places that are selling alcohol can help to create environments that support people’s choice to drink less."

If people choose to drink, U.S. dietary guidelines recommend no more than two drinks a day for men and no more than one drink a day for women.

"That's to lower the risk of health harms," Esser said. "Although there is emerging evidence of additional harms that can occur at lower levels of drinking as well." (Jewett/Hoffman, New York Times, 2/29; Christensen, CNN, 2/29; Esser et al., Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 2/29)

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