§ Mr. Richard Shepherdasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what estimate he has made of the number of alcoholics in the United Kingdom; and what information he has on the estimated totals 10 and 20 years previously, respectively.
§ Sir George Young[pursuant to his reply, 19 July 1979, c. 829]: There is no completely agreed definition of alcoholics, but a measurement which has been regarded by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys (OPCS) as giving a broad indication of prevalence, and which gives a useful guide to trends over time, is based on the number of deaths from cirrhosis of the liver. The figures below are derived from the number of such deaths, adjusted to take account of the proportion of deaths from cirrhosis not caused by alcohol, and the evidence about the proportion of alcoholics found to suffer from alcohol-induced cirrhosis. On this basis the estimate by OPCS is as follows:
Estimated Number of Alcoholics in the United Kingdom 1957 490,000 1967 540,000 1977 740,000