Alcohol deaths surged in the US in the wake of the covid pandemic, peaking in 2021 to almost 40% above the pre-pandemic level (see table). The alcohol death toll in 2024 was still 20% above that seen in 2019, according to the latest provisional CDC data for deaths directly attributable to alcohol. There is still no full-year figure for 2025, but extrapolating the provisional figure of 39,558 for the year to December 6th suggests alcohol deaths are likely to be at least 11% higher than in 2019. Provisional figures typically increase because the CDC data collection network adds to them over time. The provisional figure for 2024 increased by a thousand since Alcohol Review first reported it in April, adding three percentage points in the comparison to 2019. ■