Consumption of alcohol in Bulgaria increased by 1.4 liters per capita, from 2010 to 2020. This is the second most serious increase in Europe for the studied period. In this way, our country ranks among the top five of all European countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced in its report, dariknews.bg reported.
Alcohol consumption in the EU fell by 0.5 liters between 2010 and 2020. Several countries have increased their consumption, bucking this trend.
When it comes to drinking, it seems that lifestyle habits in Europe have largely changed our relationship with alcohol for the better.
“No level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health,” warned the WHO, yet the amount of alcohol we drink is still significant.
The risk of developing cancer increases significantly with the consumption of more alcohol. Health authorities are urging people to stop drinking alcohol or at least reduce it.
Although some people adopt the trend of not drinking alcohol in January, because of the so-called “Dry January”, the data suggests that the wider decline in alcohol consumption in Europe is already showing signs of slowing since 2000.
How has alcohol consumption changed in Europe in recent decades? In which countries has the highest rate of decrease and increase in alcohol consumption been observed?
Total alcohol consumption is defined as the annual sales of pure alcohol in liters per person aged 15 and over. The data does not include unrecorded alcohol consumption, such as home or illegal production.
There is a gradual decrease in alcohol consumption in the EU and in the WHO European Region.
In the EU, total alcohol consumption per person aged 15 and over has fallen by 2.9 liters over the past four decades, from 12.7 liters in 1980 to 9.8 liters in 2020, corresponding to at a 23 percent reduction.
Consumption fell significantly between 1980 (12.7 liters) and 2000 (10.5 liters).
Over the next 2 decades, the rate of decline slowed. Between 2010 and 2020 it decreased by 0.5 liters in the EU.
Alcohol consumption in the WHO European Region, which covers 53 countries, including Russia and surrounding countries, has fallen from 12 liters in 2000 to 9.5 liters in 2020.
Despite this decline, the WHO European Region still has the highest level of alcohol consumption per person in the world. Every year, every person over the age of 15 in the region drinks an average of 9.5 liters of pure alcohol. This equates to 190 liters of beer, 80 liters of wine or 24 liters of spirits.
In 2020, among 36 European countries, including the EU, the UK, the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and EU candidate countries, annual alcohol consumption ranged from 1.2 liters in Turkey to 12.1 liters in Latvia .
EU citizens consumed an average of 9.8 liters of alcohol.
Among the “big four” of the EU in terms of economy and population, the highest alcohol consumption is in Germany (10.6 liters), followed by France (10.4 liters), Spain (7.8 liters) and Italy (7.7 liters). In the UK, this figure is 9.7 litres. If we look at changes at the national level between 2010 and 2020, alcohol consumption has decreased in 25 countries, while it has increased in 11 countries.
In some of them minor changes were recorded, but in most countries remarkable changes were observed during this period. Alcohol consumption decreased by more than one liter in 14 countries, while in 5 countries, on the contrary, it increased during this period.
The biggest decline in alcohol consumption during this period was recorded in Ireland and Lithuania. It decreased by 2.1 liters in both countries, followed by
Spain and Greece (in both 2 liters).
The Netherlands, France, Cyprus and Finland also saw a drop of over 1.5 litres. Between 1 and 1.5 liters was the reduction in Serbia, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Switzerland and Germany.
The biggest increase was in Latvia, where consumption rose by 2.3 liters.
Bulgaria (1.4 litres), Malta (1.1 litres), Romania and Poland (both 1 litre) also saw significant increases. In Norway, Italy and Iceland the increase is over 0.5 litres.
As alcohol consumption in Europe varies widely, looking at the percentage change is also a useful indicator.
The largest decrease was observed in Greece - 24.1%, followed by the Netherlands (20.9%), Spain (20.4%) and Turkey (20%).
The decline is over 15% in Ireland, Serbia, Lithuania, Finland, France and Cyprus.
Latvia (23.5%) also recorded the largest increase in the percentage change.
Many European countries have introduced a number of policies to limit alcohol consumption, such as taxation, limiting the supply of alcohol and banning alcohol advertising.
However, according to the OECD, their effectiveness is hampered by their weak implementation on the ground and limited resources. Alcohol consumption varies significantly by gender and education. Instead of the quantity, the proportion of heavy episodic drunkenness is examined.
This is the proportion of adults aged 18 and over who report drinking 60 grams or more of pure ethanol on one occasion in the past 30 days. This equates to 6 or more drinks.
In 2019, almost one in five adults (19%) reported heavy episodic drinking at least once a month in EU countries - a proportion that has remained stable since 2014.
In all countries, men were more likely than women to report heavy episodic drinking. In 2019, on average across EU countries, 26.6% of men reported heavy episodic drinking at least once a month, compared to 11.4% of women.
The highest proportion of heavy episodic drinking among men was reported in Romania (55.2%). This percentage is over 35% in Denmark, Luxembourg, Germany and Belgium.
Women in Denmark, Luxembourg, Germany and Ireland show the highest proportion of heavy episodic drinking, which is over 20%.
The ratio of male to female heavy drinkers shows the difference between the sexes. In 2019, it was 2.33 in the EU, indicating that 2.33 men were heavy drinkers as opposed to women. This ratio was lowest in Ireland (1.46), Iceland (1.63) and Germany (1.74).
Turkey and Cyprus were outliers in the difference between male and female heavy drinkers, where this ratio was above 8.
Academic research suggests that gender differences may be related to different cultural expectations and reflect traditional gender roles. They may also be related to the gender employment gap and lower incomes.
Educational level is also relevant to alcohol use. People with a lower level of education do not have a higher rate of heavy episodic drinking in EU countries, except Latvia.
On average, 12.5% of people with less than a high school education reported heavy episodic drinking, compared to 20% or more of people with at least a high school education (22.3%) or a college degree (20.2%).
These differences largely reflect greater purchasing power.
„Alcohol is more accessible to people with higher education and higher incomes. However, when looking at alcohol-related harm, the burden is greater for people of lower socio-economic status”, the OECD report found.
The highest rates of educational attrition among heavy drinkers are observed in Latvia, Greece, Estonia, Bulgaria and Lithuania.
In these countries, the rate of heavy episodic drinking among people with less education is slightly higher than among people with college education. This is a simple question with a simple answer: no, there is no such difference.
“We cannot talk about the so-called safe level of alcohol use. It doesn't matter how much you drink, the drinker's health risk begins with the first drop of any alcoholic beverage," explained Karina Ferreira-Borges, acting head of the Noncommunicable Diseases Management Unit and regional advisor on alcohol and illicit drugs at the Regional Office of WHO for Europe.
However, the amount of alcohol is still important.
“The only thing we can say for sure is that the more you drink, the more harmful it is -- or, in other words, the less you drink, the safer it is,” said Ferreira-Borges.