Almost 8,000 lives could be saved in the North if a minimum price on a unit of booze is imposed.
Research found high-risk drinkers would cut their intake by the equivalent of 14 bottles of vodka a year.
The findings come days before the minimum unit price scheme starts in Wales, two years since its arrival in Scotland and weeks after English hospital admissions caused by alcohol hit record levels.
Retailers in Wales, where alcohol abuse leads to more than 500 deaths a year, must charge at least 50p a unit from Monday. It means a bottle of wine will cost a minimum of £4.69.
The University of Sheffield found that charging at least 50p a unit in England would cut consumption in parts of the North by almost twice the UK average.
That would see greater reductions in alcohol attributable deaths, hospital admissions and crime, particularly in the North West, North East, Yorkshire and the Humber.
Alice Wiseman, of the Association of Directors of Public Health, said: “Risky drinkers in England consume over two-thirds of all alcohol sold and MUP will have the biggest impact on heaviest at-risk drinkers.”
An estimated 7,816 deaths linked to alcohol would be prevented over 20 years – 48% of the total for England.
About 1.3 million hospital admissions in 2018/19 related to conditions which could have been down to alcohol, NHS Digital figures show – up from 780,000 a decade earlier.
Last year the Government said it had no plans to implement minimum unit pricing in England. But the policy is being kept “under review”.
