The number of alcohol-related deaths in North Ayrshire decreased over the 12 months from 2020 to 2021, bucking a national trend.

However, the mortality rates directly linked to alcohol still lie well above the Scottish average over the past four years (2017-2021) - making it the sixth highest rate (per 100,000 population) in the nation.

The latest figures have been revealed in a recent report from the National Records of Scotland (NRS).

Scotland-wide, alcohol-related deaths increased by 55, to 1,245 - the highest figure since 2008.

North Ayrshire saw figures decrease for the second consecutive year, going from 44 in 2020 to 37 in the latest figures. This is an even larger decrease from 2019, when 50 mortalities were registered.

Though 37 deaths is a decreasing figure, pre-2019, the last time the number of mortalities was as large was 2009 and since the NRS began taking records of these figures, only seven times has this figure been exceeded, with two of these occasions being 2020 and 2019.

The Ayrshire and Arran health board as a whole also lies above the national average, only slightly, though North Ayrshire was the only council area within the board above the average mortality rate for the past four years.

In 2021 in East and South Ayrshire, there were 30 and 24 alcohol-related deaths respectively.

Irvine Times: The average mortality rates per 100,000 population in Scottish council areas, between 2017-2021. Source: National Records of Scotland.The average mortality rates per 100,000 population in Scottish council areas, between 2017-2021. Source: National Records of Scotland.

The national average mortality rate (for alcohol-related deaths) per 100,000 population sat at 20.8 between the years 2017 and 2021. While East Ayrshire (19.3) and South Ayrshire (17.0) lay well below that figure, North Ayrshire (27.3) sits well above. This gave the NHS Ayrshire and Arran health board an average of 21.5.

Looking at the national figures more generally, of those who died from alcohol-specific causes, two-thirds were male. The average age of deaths of those who died from these causes was 58.7 years for females and 59.7 years for males.

Julie Ramsay, vital events statistician at NRS, said: “Health inequalities are a feature of alcohol-specific deaths.

"Deaths attributed to alcohol were 5.6 times as likely in the most deprived areas of Scotland compared to the least deprived areas.

"This is more than the deprivation gap for all causes of death, which is 1.9.”