Main points
- There were 6,612 deaths caused by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias registered in Scotland in 2024. This is one of the leading causes of death in Scotland, accounting for around one in 10 of all deaths.
- After adjusting for age, there were 122 deaths caused by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias per 100,000 people in Scotland in 2024. This rate has almost doubled over the last two decades.
- Almost two-thirds (64%) of deaths caused by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias were females and 36% were males.
- The majority (85%) of deaths due to Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias are in those over the age of 80, with an average age of 87.
- Almost two-thirds of deaths due to Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias occurred in care homes (4,258 deaths).
- There was regional variation within Scotland; Falkirk and Clackmannanshire had the highest mortality rates due to dementia and Alzheimer's disease in the period 2020-2024. Scottish Borders had the lowest rates.
- Mortality rates due to Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias in the most deprived areas were 1.3 times as high as in the least deprived areas. This gap is smaller than for all causes of death, where people in the most deprived areas are about twice as likely to die as those in the least deprived areas.
- In 2024, remote small towns and other urban areas had the highest mortality rates from Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, at 149 and 145 deaths per 100,000 people respectively.
- There were 10,618 deaths registered in 2024 where Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias was mentioned on the death certificate as an underlying or contributory cause, with a mortality rate of 194 per 100,000 people. This is the lowest level since 2014.
Deaths caused by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias in Scotland
There were 6,612 deaths caused by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias in Scotland in 2024. This is an increase of 2% (121 deaths) compared to 2023 and the highest number since 2000.
After adjusting for age, the rate of mortality from deaths caused by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias was 122 deaths per 100,000 people in 2024 (Figure 1). This is similar to the rate of 123 deaths per 100,000 in 2023. The latest rate is around twice as high as it was in 2005 (60 deaths per 100,000).
Figure 1: The latest Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias mortality rate is around twice the 2005 level.
Age standardised mortality rate for deaths caused by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, 2000-2024
The rate of mortality for deaths caused by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias increased between 2000 and 2017, from 56 to 136 deaths per 100,000 people. It then fell to 118 in 2021, before rising slightly to 123 in 2023 and 122 deaths per 100,000 people in 2024. However, due to the uncertainty around the annual estimates as represented by the 95% confidence intervals, this increase in rate from 2021 is not statistically significant.
There were 10,618 deaths registered in 2024 where Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias is mentioned on the death certificate as either the underlying cause or a contributing factor. This is a rate of mortality of 194 deaths per 100,000 people. In 2020, there was increased mortality in deaths where Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias is mentioned, but not in deaths directly as a result of these conditions. This is most likely due the effect of deaths caused by COVID-19 during this year.
Age-standardised mortality rates are a better measure of mortality than numbers of deaths as they account for changes in population size and age structure. They provide more reliable comparisons between different areas, sexes and over time.
In this report, age-standardised mortality rates are presented per 100,000 people and are standardised to the 2013 European Standard Population.
Age-standardised mortality rates are calculated using mid-year population estimates, meaning the rates calculated using these figures are also estimates. A confidence interval is a measure of the statistical precision of an estimate and shows the range of uncertainty around the estimated figure. They are based on the lower and upper 95% confidence limits for the age-standardised mortality rates. 95% confidence intervals are calculated so that, if the analysis to produce an estimate was repeated many times, 95% of the time the true unknown value would lie between the lower and upper confidence limits.
As a general rule, if the confidence interval around one figure overlaps with the interval around another, we cannot say with certainty that the difference between figures is statistically significant. Areas with smaller populations tend to have wider confidence intervals, indicating a greater amount of uncertainty their true value. For this reason, care must be taken when comparing age-standardised mortality rates between areas.
More information on the calculation of age-standardised mortality rates is available on our website.
Deaths caused by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias by age and sex
In 2024 there were 4,262 (64%) female deaths and 2,350 (36%) male deaths caused by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. Females have tended to make up around two thirds of these deaths in Scotland in recent years. The female mortality rate for Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias is 1.2 times the male rate, after adjusting for age.
Figure 2: The rate of Alzheimer’s and other dementias deaths is higher for females than for males
Age-standardised mortality rate for deaths caused by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, by sex, 2000-2024
In all persons, over 5 in 6 (85%) of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia deaths occur in those over the age of 80. In 2024, there were 2,377 deaths caused by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias among those aged 90 and above. This age group accounted for 36% of all deaths from these causes.
In 2024, for people under 75 years of age, there were more male deaths due to Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia than female deaths. For those aged 75 and over, females had higher numbers of deaths than males across all remaining age groups, particularly among those aged 80 and above.
However, this difference is less pronounced when looking at age-specific death rates. These rates provide a clearer comparison between males and females at each age range because they account for the size of the population in each group, including the larger female population in older age groups.
Figure 3: The rate of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias deaths is highest in ages 90 and over.
Age-specific mortality rate for deaths caused by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, by age class, 2000 to 2024
Deaths caused by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias in males tend to be at slightly younger ages than for females. In 2024, the average age of death for females was 87.9 years and for males it was 85.3 years.
Figure 4: Females have a higher average age at death than males.
Deaths caused by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, average age of death, by sex 2000-2024
Note: Please note that the y-axis starts at 80 years, rather than at 0 years. This is so that it is easier to see detail in the chart, however we would caution users that the scale may make small changes over time appear larger than they are.
Deaths caused by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias across Scotland
After adjusting for age, the rate of deaths caused by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias was higher than the Scottish average in Falkirk, Clackmannanshire, Inverclyde, Glasgow City, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, South Lanarkshire, West Lothian, West Dunbartonshire and Fife over the period 2020-2024 (Figure 5). There is a statistically significant difference between the rates for these areas and the Scottish average (the confidence intervals do not overlap).
The lowest rates were in Scottish Borders, East Renfrewshire, North Ayrshire, Orkney Islands, Perth and Kinross, East Dunbartonshire, Aberdeenshire, South Ayrshire, Moray, Argyll and Bute, Aberdeen City and City of Edinburgh.
There may be large confidence intervals around these rates for areas with smaller populations or numbers of deaths. When comparing mortality rates in areas across Scotland, we group five years of data together as the number of deaths caused by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias can fluctuate year-to-year, particularly in smaller council areas.
Figure 5: The rate of deaths caused by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias varies across Scotland.
Age-standardised mortality rates for deaths caused by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, by council area, 5-year average, 2020 to 2024
Deaths caused by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias by place of occurrence
The greatest proportion of deaths caused by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias in Scotland (4,258 deaths or 64%) took place in care homes. This is a much greater proportion of deaths than when considering all causes of death (21% occur in care homes) in 2024.
Of deaths where Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia is mentioned on the death certificate as the underlying cause or a contributing factor, the highest number of deaths, (5,915 deaths or 56%) took place within care homes. As shown in Figure 6, this value reached 7,742 in 2020. This peak is primarily due to a large number of deaths caused by COVID-19, with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias recorded as contributory factors.
Figure 6: Majority of deaths involving Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias were in care homes.
Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias deaths and deaths where “Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia” is mentioned on the death certificate, by location, 2000 to 2024
Note: Locations are defined based on the list of location codes by Public Health Scotland. NRS use this list to identify locations based on their type.
Deaths caused by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias by deprivation
After adjusting for age, death rates for Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias in the most deprived areas were 1.3 higher than people in the least deprived areas. This compares to the rate of deaths from all causes being twice as high in the most deprived areas as in the least deprived areas.
The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation is a measure of how deprived an area is.
If an area is identified as ‘deprived’, this can relate to people having a low income but it can also mean fewer resources or opportunities.
A score is given to all of Scotland’s data zones based on multiple indicators of deprivation. The data zones are then ranked 1 to 6,976 based on their score. Subsequently, the rankings are split into 5 equally sized groups forming SIMD quintiles.
This gap in rate of deaths caused by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias has generally increased since 2007 (Figure 7). From 2011 onwards, the confidence intervals around the mortality rates of most and least deprived areas no longer overlap. This suggests that there is a statistically significant difference in age-standardised mortality rates for the most and least deprived areas.
Figure 7: In 2024, the rate of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias deaths are 1.3 times as high in the most deprived than least deprived areas.
Age-Standardised Mortality Rates in selected SIMD quintiles, 2001 to 2024
Note: Deprivation quintiles are based on the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation
Deaths caused by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias by Urban Rural Classification
In urban and rural areas, the pattern has been less clear over time and there is less of a relationship between levels of rurality and the rate of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias deaths (Figure 8). The rates in remote small towns, other urban areas and large urban areas have been consistently higher than other areas.
In 2024, the highest mortality rate caused by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias was in remote small towns at 149 deaths per 100,000 population. The lowest rate was in remote rural areas at 84 per 100,000 people.
Figure 8: Rate of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias deaths highest in remote small towns and other urban areas.
Age-standardised mortality rates for deaths by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, by urban rural classification, 2011 to 2024
Note: Confidence intervals are not shown. Caution is advised when comparing urban and rural areas as in many cases differences are not statistically significant.
Comorbidities of deaths caused by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias
In Scotland in 2024, 1,256 (19%) deaths due to Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias mentioned no other health conditions. Almost two in three deaths (64%) due to Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias mentioned either 1 or 2 comorbidities on the death certificate. The remaining 17% of Alzheimer’s and other dementias deaths had 3 or more comorbidities.
Of the deaths due to Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias where there was at least one comorbidity, the most common condition was “Symptoms, signs and ill-defined conditions”, this includes causes associated with old age and frailty (2,894 deaths)
Figure 9 Symptoms, signs, and ill-defined conditions, associated with old age and frailty, was the most common comorbidity in deaths due to Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias
Most common comorbidities in deaths due to Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, Scotland, 2024
Note: Causes are grouped using the ONS Leading Causes of Deaths list.
Revisions and corrections
Please note that the following errors were identified in previous publications of this data:
- Table 9b “Alzheimer's disease and other dementia deaths by number of comorbidities” was double counting the causes mentioned in the certificate for the Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia deaths. As a result, the table did not show the deaths for which there was only one comorbidity.
- In the 2023 tables, Table 3b had an incorrect number of deaths for Aberdeen City for the period 2019-2023.
These errors have been corrected in the time series data available below and additional checks have implemented to minimise the risk of similar errors in the future.
Population estimates for 2011 to 2021 were rebased following the 2022 Census. Mortality rates for 2011 to 2021 have been updated to incorporate the rebased population estimates and may therefore differ from those previously published.
Links to related statistics
NRS publish numbers of deaths due to other causes of death annually.
Vital Events Reference Tables are published by NRS and contain annual statistics on deaths.
Information about our statistics
These statistics are designated as Accredited Official Statistics. More information about Official Statistics can be found on the Statistics governance and consultation page.
We also provide information about upcoming publications on our website.
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