One in five people in England have been harmed in some way by others’ drinking over the past year, suggest the results of the largest survey of its kind in the United Kingdom.

Nearly one in 20 of them experienced aggression — physically threatened or hurt, or forced/pressurised into something sexual, the findings indicate.

In 2012, alcohol was responsible for around 6 per cent of all deaths and 5 per cent of all ill health around the globe.

The survey of 5000 adults across England looked at the extent, type, and frequency of the harms associated with other people’s drinking, who is most likely to be affected, as well as who and what might be driving it.

The researchers drew on an extended Alcohol Toolkit Survey (ATS), carried out between November 2015 and January 2016. The ATS is a nationally representative household survey, which includes a new sample of adults every month.

The extended survey included 18 additional questions on a wide range of potential harms associated with other people’s drinking.

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