Alcohol consumption in Europe is steadily decreasing, but some countries are drinking more.
Publika.az “Euronews” TV channel reported on this based on the research data of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the Eurostat statistical service of the European Union and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Latvia, one of the former Soviet republics, tops the list of countries that drink the most in the European Union. In 2020, 12.1 liters of pure alcohol falls on each citizen of the country over the age of 15. At the same time, Latvia is one of the few countries where alcohol consumption has increased since 2010: at that time, the figure was 9.8 liters per person aged 15 and over. Bulgaria, Malta, Romania, Poland, Norway, Italy and Iceland are also at the top of the list of countries that drink a lot.
Third place was taken by Lithuania with 11.4 liters for citizens aged 15 years and older. It is interesting that in 2010 the country was the first in the ranking with 13.5 liters per person. Estonia shows similar dynamics with figures of 11.4 and 10.5 liters per capita, respectively.
Residents of Ireland, Greece, Spain, the Netherlands, France, Cyprus, Finland, Serbia, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Switzerland, Germany, Portugal, Luxembourg and Austria began to consume less alcohol.
Total alcohol consumption per EU resident aged 15 and over has fallen by 2.9 liters over the past 40 years, from 12.7 liters in 1980 to 9.8 liters in 2020, according to the World Health Organization. From 2010 to 2020 alone, the level of alcohol consumption per inhabitant of the European Union decreased by half a liter.
A similar trend is observed in the European region, which includes Russia and neighboring countries. Alcohol consumption per person over the age of 15 fell from 12 liters in 2000 to 9.5 liters by 2020. However, it is still the highest among other regions of the world.
In 2019, more than a third of men in Romania, Denmark, Luxembourg, Germany and Belgium reported drinking. In Romania, this figure is a record 55.2 percent. According to the researchers, women are less prone to such behavior, but in Denmark, Luxembourg and Germany, more than 20 percent of the female population was found to be prone to drinking.
At the end of 2023, the Russian government approved the Concept of reducing alcohol consumption until 2030. The document states that the volume of ethanol consumed per person should decrease from 8.9 liters of ethanol in 2023 to 7.8 liters after 7 years.
