Alcohol Consumption by Global Region Published 19 seconds ago on July 27, 2024 By Bruno Venditti

The New Diplomat
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Over 2 billion people are current drinkers, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

This map shows the percentage of the population over 15 years old that consumed alcohol in the previous 12 months by region. The data is from 2019 and was published in the 2024 Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health and Treatment of Substance Use Disorders.

According to the World Health Organization’s definitions, the map is divided into six regions.
European Countries Have the Highest Percentage of Drinkers

The level of drinking is highest in European countries. Seven of the 10 countries with the highest alcohol consumption in 2019 were members of the European Union.

Region Drinkers (%) Alcohol per capita (in liters/year)
European Region 62.4 14.7
Western Pacific Region 60.4 9.8
Region of the Americas 60.0 12.5
African Region 29.2 15.5
South-East Asian Region 27.6 14.0
Eastern Mediterranean Region 4.1 7.4
World Avg 43.8 12.4

Countries in North Africa and the Middle East have the lowest alcohol consumption rates due to cultural and religious factors. On the map, these countries can mostly be seen in the WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean classification, where just 4% of the population consumes alcohol on a semi-regular basis.

Health Consequences of Alcohol Consumption

According to WHO, 2.6 million people (2 million of them men) die from alcohol-related causes each year.

The highest levels of alcohol-attributable deaths per 100,000 people are observed in countries in Africa and Europe.

Globally, an estimated 400 million people, or 7% of the world’s population aged 15 years and older, live with alcohol use disorders, and an estimated 209 million (3.7% of the adult world population) live with alcohol dependence.

If you liked this post, check out Ranked: Which Countries Drink the Most Beer? This graphic compares global beer consumption by country.

Source: Visual Capitalist

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