Alcohol played a role in 2.6% of U.S. deaths in 2017

Nearly 1 million people died from alcohol-related causes between 1999 and 2017, and alcohol played a role in 2.6% of all U.S. deaths in 2017, a new analysis released Friday by the NIH's National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism shows.

Why it matters: The deaths correspond with increased alcohol consumption in the U.S. and alcohol-linked emergency department visits and hospitalizations over the same period. Death certificates mentioning alcohol more than doubled from 35,914 in 1999 to 72,558 in 2017.

Go deeper: Alcohol consumption in Russia fell by 43%