Public Health Liverpool

Live well

Living well is essential in helping us manage our health and maintain our independence. Unhealthy lifestyle behaviours, such as smoking or drinking alcohol, determine the burden of disease and illness within a population. Some of the risk factors for the city are highlighted below.

Key facts

  • Smoking prevalence in Liverpool has fallen from 22.3% in 2011 to 17.3% in 2022 and is significantly worse than nationally (12.7%).
  • In 2022/23, 67.2% of Liverpool adults were classified as either overweight or obese, which is significantly above the national average (64%) and the highest among the Core Cities.
  • In Liverpool, only one in four (24.5%) adults consumed the recommended ‘5-a-day’ fruit and vegetables in 2022/23, significantly lower than England at 31%.
  • Around 23% of adults (aged 19+) are physically inactive (engaging in less than 30 minutes of physical activity per week), which is in line with England (22.6%).
  • In 2022/23, hospital admissions for alcohol-specific conditions in the city were 1.8 times higher than the national average with around 4,457 per year, while Liverpool’s premature mortality rate for liver disease was 1.5 times above the national rate.
  • Drug misuse is a significant cause of premature mortality in the UK. In Liverpool around 61 people die from drug misuse each year. Liverpool’s rate of 14 per 100,000 is 2.7 times higher than the national average (5.2 per 100,000) and the 4th highest in England.
  • There were 6,734 new Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) diagnoses in Liverpool in 2023 and our diagnosis rate of 1,356 per 100,000 population is almost twice the national rate (704 per 100,000).
  • There are 77,252 adults with depression (16.1% compared to 13.2% nationally), while the underlying trend is significantly increasing.
  • There are 3,363 people (0.6%) with a learning disability which is in line with England (0.6%).

Detailed needs assessments

The following health needs assessments have been published in relation to living well:

Local strategies

Liverpool information

Office for Health Improvements and Disparities profiles