Burden of disease and injuries related to alcohol and other drugs

Introduction

Tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drug use contribute to increased chronic disease, injury, poisoning and premature death and are among the leading risk factors contributing to the total disease burden in Australia (AIHW 2024a). 

This page focuses on injuries sustained while under the influence of alcohol and other drugs, and the burden of disease related to alcohol and other drug use in Australia. The page uses data from self-report surveys and health administrative data. 

For related content on other harms related to alcohol and drug use in this report, see Health and harms.

What data sources are available?

There are several data sources that contain information about alcohol and other drug-related injuries and burden of disease in Australia. These data sets use different methodologies and are not directly comparable.

Data on the burden of disease related to alcohol and other drug use is collated via the Australian Burden of Disease Study, which captures information on the burden of disease for over 200 diseases and injuries and around 40 risk factors (including use of alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs) (AIHW 2024a). Data on injuries sustained while under the influence of alcohol and other drugs are reported via the National Drug Strategy Household Survey (NDSHS; AIHW 2024b).

For more information about each data source, see Technical notes.

How do alcohol and other drugs contribute to disease burden in Australia?

Tobacco, alcohol and illicit drug use together accounted for 14% of the total burden of disease in Australia in 2024 (AIHW 2024a). Most leading risk factors have fallen over time, but the age-standardised rate of disability adjusted life years (DALY) attributable to illicit drug use has risen.

In 2024, tobacco was the second highest risk factor for burden of disease, and alcohol was the sixth highest risk factor (AIHW 2024a). Detailed findings show that, in 2024:

• Tobacco use contributed to 7.6% of the total burden of disease, including cancers, respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases and infections. 
• Alcohol use contributed to 4.1% of the total burden of disease, including alcohol dependence, cancers, cardiovascular diseases, chronic liver disease, and injuries (Table ABDS1).
  • Alcohol use was the leading risk factor for males aged 15–44 (10% compared with 4.2% for females) (AIHW 2024a). 
• Illicit drug use contributed to 2.9% of the total burden of disease, including drug use disorders, poisoning, Hepatitis C, acute Hepatitis B and HIV/AIDS (Table ABDS2). Opioid use accounted for the largest proportion (28%) of the illicit drug use burden, followed by amphetamine use (25%), cocaine (11%) and cannabis (6.9%) (AIHW 2024a, tables S6 and S8) (Figure 1).

How many people report being injured while under the influence of alcohol and other drugs?

Alcohol-related injuries

According to the 2022–2023 NDSHS:

• 1.7% of people aged 14 and over who had recently consumed alcohol had been injured while under the influence of alcohol and required medical attention, and 0.8% required admission to hospital for their injuries. 
• Less than 1% of people aged 14 and over who had recently consumed alcohol required medical attention (0.5%) or hospitalisation (0.2%) due to their intoxication (AIHW 2024b, Table 4.51).

People who consumed alcohol in risky quantities were far more likely to require medical attention or admission to hospital due to injuries sustained while drinking or due to intoxication. This was even higher among people aged 14 and over who consumed 11 or more standard drinks in a single day at least monthly, with 10.2% requiring medical attention for their injuries (AIHW 2024b, Table 5.52).

Drug-related injuries

Data from the 2022–2023 NDSHS showed that:

• 2.6% of people aged 14 and over who had recently used illicit drugs reported that they had experienced an injury while under the influence of illicit drugs and required medical attention and *1.3% said their injury was serious enough to require hospitalisation (AIHW 2024b, Table 5.40).
• 1.0% of people who had recently used illicit drugs reported that they had overdosed and required medical attention while *0.7% required admission to hospital (AIHW 2024b, Table 5.40). 

NDSHS data on injury and hospitalisation for people who have recently used illicit drugs have a high relative standard error and should be interpreted with caution (AIHW 2024c).

* Estimate has a relative standard error of 25% to 50% and should be used with caution.

Where do I go for more information?

• Australian Burden of Disease Study
• National Drug Strategy Household Survey