‘White lifestyle’ is why white Brits are more likely to die from tobacco and alcohol-related diseases than ethnic groups, despite being more affluent, research shows

White Britons are more likely to die than ethnic minorities because of their drinking and smoking habits, new figures show.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), more white British people died in almost every town and village in Britain between March 2021 and May 2023 than any other ethnic group.

People of Bengali background in smaller towns and cities were the only exception to the rule.

For example, data from London suggested that 963 white British people out of a group of 100,000 would die within a year.

Of a group of 100,000 people of Pakistani descent, who had the second highest mortality rate, 834 would die.

Of those of Chinese ethnicity, an average of 612 out of 100,000 people die in a year – over a third fewer than white British people.

Controls were made for differences in age and the absolute number of people in each ethnic group, meaning that mortality was not higher simply because there are more white British people in Britain.

With smoking and drinking being much more common among white British people than among people from ethnic minorities, experts say the inequality can be at least partly attributed to this lifestyle.

Veena Raleigh, an epidemiologist and senior fellow at the King’s Fund, shared The Telegraph: ‘Broadly speaking, we find that ethnic minority groups in Great Britain have a lower mortality and therefore a higher life expectancy than the white British population.

‘They smoke less and drink less alcohol, so they have a slightly better lifestyle.

‘For smoking, rates are much lower among women from ethnic minorities, and especially among South Asian groups. So there is certainly a strong cultural factor and also (in relation to) alcohol use.’

Ms. Raleigh noted that people who migrate are often “healthier and fitter.”

However, over time these differences fade and immigrants and descendants of immigrants eventually adopt lifestyles similar to those of white British.

Ms Raleigh said: ‘This is clearly evident among second-generation, British-born ethnic minority groups. People change their lifestyles over time. They may start smoking more, and so on.

The pattern of white people dying at a higher rate in Britain goes back many years and was only disrupted during Covid, when ethnic minorities died at a higher rate.

White people in Britain are more likely to die than ethnic minorities because of their drinking and smoking habits (file image)

Ms Raleigh said: ‘The way you break down the mortality data is that white British people tend to have higher mortality from several leading causes of death such as cancer and dementia, while ethnic minorities have much lower mortality rates or cancer and dementia.’

Separate research has also found that people from Bangladeshi and Pakistani backgrounds are more likely to die from many individual conditions such as diabetes, stroke and chronic kidney disease.

Despite higher rates of smoking and drinking among white Britons being blamed for mortality inequality compared to other ethnic groups, the overall data shows that both habits are generally on the decline in Britain.

Other ONS data shows that the proportion of Britons who now smoke has fallen to around 12 per cent, a far cry from the 46 per cent recorded in the 1970s.

Separate data from the World Health Organization shows that the average amount of pure alcohol consumed by Britons each year is now 9.75.

While the figure is still higher than estimates for the 1960s, it is a decline from the peak of 11.41 recorded in 2004.

Both drinking and smoking have been linked to an increased risk of multiple cancers and other serious health problems such as dementia.