According to statistics released by National Records of Scotland, the number of alcohol-specific deaths fell by seven per cent to 1,185 in 2024.

The data also show that those living in the most deprived areas were 4.5 times more likely to die as a result of alcohol than those in the least deprived areas.

With Scotland’s alcohol death rate being consistently the highest in the UK, Scottish Conservative shadow alcohol and drugs minister Annie Wells said it was essential that SNP ministers backed the Scottish Conservatives’ Right to Recovery Bill to address the crisis.

Scottish Conservative shadow drugs and alcohol minister Annie Wells MSP said: “With alcohol deaths remaining shamefully and devastatingly high, it’s clear the SNP’s approach is not working.

“Ministers must stop seeing their flagship minimum unit pricing policy as a silver bullet when so many Scots families are tragically losing loved ones to the scourge of alcohol addiction.

“As with drugs, Scotland’s alcohol death rate is among the worst in Europe on the SNP’s watch. And, as usual, it’s the most deprived communities in the country that are hit the hardest by the nationalists’ incompetence.

“Rather than doubling down on MUP, which is a blunt instrument for a complex problem, SNP ministers should finally support our Right to Recovery Bill.

“This game-changing bill, drawn up by experts with lived experience, would enshrine in law a right to treatment, including residential rehab and abstinence programmes, for all those struggling with addiction.”