Scotland weighs automatic inflation-linked hikes to alcohol price as deaths linger

Scotland is weighing an automatic, inflation-linked rise in the minimum unit price for alcohol, a policy that would update prices without annual parliamentary approval. New figures show a 7% drop in alcohol-related deaths in 2024, but the total remains above 1,000 for a 12th straight year, with 1,185 fatalities recorded last year.

Drug and alcohol policy minister Maree Todd told BBC Radio Scotland that she is 'very interested' in linking the minimum unit price to inflation and suggested taking uprating out of the political space in favor of a more automatic mechanism. She acknowledged the challenge of defining a usable formula and said there are different figures that could be used, but that agreement should be possible.

Conservative critics pressed back, with Annie Wells saying that with deaths remaining 'shamefully and devastatingly high,' the SNP's approach is not working and that hiking the price in line with inflation would not tackle addiction and would hit responsible drinkers. She urged ministers to back the party's Right to Recovery Bill, which would enshrine a right to treatment for those who need it. Luke McGarty, head of policy and public affairs at Scottish Grocers Federation, said retailers already face higher costs and that most customers affected by higher prices drink responsibly, and an automatic uplift would place an additional inflationary burden on retailers, the industry as a whole and Scots.

Industry and advocacy groups offered mixed views: Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems has long called for an automatic uplift; the Scottish Retail Consortium said it would be open to MUP increases every five years in line with CPI but not annually.

A 2023-24 study found the minimum unit price had not produced a significant change in heavy drinkers' consumption or health, though it raised prices for those in treatment for dependence. The study tracked hundreds of Scots and English drinkers before and after MUP's introduction and concluded that the policy increased prices for dependent drinkers without clear health benefits.

National Records of Scotland reported 92 fewer alcohol-specific deaths last year, the lowest total since 2019, at 20.9 deaths per 100,000 people, down from 22.5 in 2023. The UK rate was 15.9 per 100,000, with Wales and Northern Ireland at 17.7 and 18.5 respectively. Those living in the most deprived areas were 4.5 times more likely to die from alcohol-related causes than those in the least deprived. Glasgow City recorded the highest alcohol-specific death rate at 32.9 per 100,000, followed by Inverclyde (31.9), West Dunbartonshire (28.7) and Dundee (28.2). Aberdeen recorded the highest number of such deaths since records began in 1979, at 53.

Scottish Labour deputy Dame Jackie Baillie said each death is a tragedy and stressed that tackling alcohol-specific deaths requires spending that is effective, including rehab facilities. Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton suggested MUP was too low given inflation and called for joined-up thinking and proper investment to stop the tragedy.

During a visit to Glasgow Council on Alcohol's counselling service, Maree Todd said progress has been made but that there is still work to do and that reducing alcohol harm remains a public health priority.

Policy makers continue to weigh automatic uplifts against the need to support households facing rising costs as inflation remains a pressure, while some industry groups advocate indexing MUP to inflation every five years rather than annually.