Health Survey (NI): First Results 2024/25
Date published:
The Department of Health today published the “Health Survey (NI): First Results 2024/25” report and accompanying trend tables.
The Health Survey (NI) has run annually, on a continuous basis, since 2010/11. The 2024/25 survey included questions relating to general health, mental health and wellbeing, smoking, vaping and drinking alcohol. The sample size for the survey was 3,243 individuals aged 16 and over.
Key Findings
- In 2024/25, over two-thirds of respondents (69%) rated their general health as very good or good; very good or good self-assessed general health declined with age from 87% of 16–34-year-olds to 47% of those aged 75+. Respondents living in the most deprived areas (60%) were less likely to rate their health as good or very good than those living in the least deprived areas (76%).
- A third (33%) of respondents reported having a longstanding physical or mental health condition that reduces their ability to carry out day-to-day activities (similar to 2023/24).
- Under a fifth (18%) of respondents had a high GHQ12 score, which could indicate a mental health problem. This is similar to 2023/24 (19%). Females (20%) were more likely than males (15%) to have a high GHQ12 score and respondents in the most deprived areas (24%) continue to be more likely to have a high GHQ12 score than those in the least deprived areas (14%).
- In 2024/25, around two-fifths (38%) of respondents reported having concerns about their own mental health in the past year (15% definitely; 23% to some extent).
- A quarter of respondents (25%) exhibited signs of loneliness by scoring highly on the UCLA loneliness scale (similar to 2023/24). Respondents living in the most deprived areas were more likely to exhibit signs of loneliness than those living in the least deprived areas.
- Around three-quarters (76%) of respondents aged 18 and over reported that they drank alcohol. This was down from 2023/24 (78%). A fifth of male respondents (19%) reported drinking above recommended weekly limits (14 units per week), while this was true for less than a tenth of female respondents (7%). Male drinkers (16%) were twice as likely as female drinkers (8%) to report drinking on three or more days per week.
- In 2024/25, 12% of respondents were current cigarette smokers; similar to the 2023/24 finding. Smoking prevalence has fallen fairly consistently over the last ten years, from 23% in 2015/16. Respondents living in the most deprived areas (23%, down from 36% in 2015/16) remain more likely to be smokers than those living in the least deprived areas (6%, down from 14% in 2015/16).
- Around one in ten respondents (9%) reported that they currently use e-cigarettes or vaping devices (similar to 2023/24). Use decreased with age, ranging from 16% of those aged 16-34 to 2% of those aged 65 and over. Those living in the most deprived areas (15%) were around twice as likely to use e-cigarettes as those in the least deprived areas (8%). Those living in urban areas (11%) were more likely than those living in rural areas (8%) to use e-cigarettes.
- More than two-fifths (44%) of respondents reported that they consumed 5 or more portions of fruit and vegetables per day. This was similar to 2023/24.
- In 2024/25, two-thirds (67%) of adults were either overweight (36%) or obese (30%), similar to findings in 2023/24 though the obesity rate has increased from 23% in 2010/11.
This publication is a summary of the main topics included in the 2024/25 Health Survey. Further bulletins and tables will be made available on the Health Survey page on the Departmental website.
Notes to editors:
1. The survey was commissioned by the Department of Health and covered the period April 2024 to March 2025.
2. All face-to-face household interviews were suspended in the middle of March 2020 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In the survey years 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23 all interviews carried out on the Health Survey were conducted by telephone. Face-to-face interviewing was reinstated alongside telephone interviewing in June 2023, thus the survey adopted a mixed mode methodology for 2023/24 and 2024/25.
3. There are a number of factors which users should take into consideration when interpreting the 2024/25 results and care should be taken when comparing these with previously published findings.
- The dual modality of the survey necessitated changes to how some questions were asked or presented as well as the response categories associated with them. This may have implications for how people responded to the survey.
- The achieved response rate on the survey for 2024/25 was 49% which is a lower response compared to the normal achieved response rate of 55% in face-to-face mode pre-pandemic; the final achieved sample was 3,243 individuals.
- The precision of the survey estimates should be taken into consideration especially when broken down by sub-groups of the population; the accompanying trend tables outline the survey estimates and the respective confidence intervals.
- The demographic profile of the achieved sample has an under-representation of people aged 16 to 34 so the results are based on information that has been weighted by age-group and sex in order to better reflect the composition of the general population of Northern Ireland. In addition, the profile of respondents for telephone and face-to-face interviews was substantially different thus it was decided that the two groups should be weighted separately. Whilst the weighting should reduce bias in the results, they cannot eliminate all forms of bias which may be present in the data.
Any changes within the 2024/25 data compared with previous years should be considered in the context of all of the above and caution should be exercised when drawing conclusions from the findings.
Given the various changes in the survey methodology and wider society since the pandemic, it may be advisable to monitor any apparent changes noted in these results in the future to see if there is further evidence that these changes are indeed indicative of a permanent change.
4. Unless otherwise specified, results relate to adults aged 16 and over.
5. As the results are based on data collected from a sample of the population, they are subject to sampling error. This should be taken into consideration when interpreting the results. Differences reported are those that are statistically significant at the 95% confidence level.
6. The Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure 2017 (NIMDM) was used as a measure of deprivation. The NIMDM 2017 is the official measure of deprivation in Northern Ireland.
7. Any material used must be acknowledged and sourced to the Health Survey Northern Ireland, Department of Health.
8. This publication is available online at: www.health-ni.gov.uk/topics/doh-statistics-and-research/health-survey-northern-ireland
9. Additional information is available from:
Public Health Information and Research Branch
Information Analysis Directorate
Department of Health
Annex 2, Castle Buildings
Stormont
Belfast BT4 3SQ
Telephone: 028 9052 2523
E-mail: PHIRB@health-ni.gov.uk
10. For media enquiries please contact DoH Press Office by e-mail: pressoffice@health-ni.gov.uk
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