With an average annual per capita consumption of 9.2 liters of alcohol, Europeans are the heaviest drinkers in the world.
Europeans are the heaviest drinkers in the world, with an average annual per capita consumption of 9.2 liters of alcohol, according to a statement from the European division of the World Health Organization (WHO).
“The European region continues to have an incredible record of the highest levels of alcohol consumption and associated harm globally,” said WHO Europe official Dr Goden Galea, based on the latest data available from 2019.
WHO notes that in EU countries “there has been no significant change in the level of alcohol consumption for more than a decade”.
According to the World Health Organization’s latest report on global alcohol consumption, published in June, residents of the Americas are in second place with an average of 7.5 liters per year.
More specifically, men drink the most alcohol in Europe: an average of 14.9 liters per year, or four times more than women (four liters per year).
In Europe, one in ten adults (11%) suffer from an alcohol-related disease and almost one in 20 are dependent on alcohol (5.9%), highlights the WHO European Annex covering 53 countries in Europe and Central Asia.
“Alcohol is the leading cause of death in Europe, with approximately 800,000 deaths each year,” the WHO notes.
It causes many non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases.
According to WHO, these diseases are “responsible for 90% of all deaths in the region (as defined by WHO) and 85% of the years these patients live with disability”.
The organization calls on European countries to “increase taxes on alcoholic beverages, introduce global restrictions on alcohol trade and reduce its availability.”
Alcohol kills 2.6 million people worldwide each year, which remains “unacceptably high” for WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.