Author: James Anderson

Alcohol Facts and Statistics National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism NIAAA

These include the availability of alcohol, increases in people experiencing mental health conditions, and challenges in accessing health care. Most of the 145 countries that reported data did not have a specific budget line or data on governmental expenditures for treatment of substance use disorders. Although mutual help and peer support groups are useful resources for people with substance use disorders, almost half of responding countries reported that they do not offer such support groups for substance use disorders.

Increases Among Males and Females

The 2010 WHO Global strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol and the 2022 WHO Global action plan are the most comprehensive international alcohol policy documents, endorsed by WHO Member States, that provides guidance on reducing the harmful use of alcohol at all levels. WHO’s approach aligns with and furthers work towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically target 3.5 on substance abuse, including harmful use of alcohol, and target 3.4 on the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and promoting mental health and well-being. The report highlights the urgent need to accelerate actions globally towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)  target 3.5 by 2030 by reducing alcohol and drug consumption and improving access to quality treatment for substance use disorders. The Global status report on alcohol and health and treatment of substance use disorders presents a comprehensive overview of alcohol consumption, alcohol-related…

Health consequences of alcohol consumption

Average annual number of deaths from excessive alcohol use, including partially and fully alcohol-attributable conditions, increased approximately 29% from 137,927 during 2016–2017 to 178,307 during 2020–2021, and age-standardized death rates increased from approximately 38 to 48 per 100,000 population. During this time, deaths from excessive drinking among males increased approximately 27%, from 94,362 per year to 119,606, and among females increased approximately 35%, from 43,565 per year to 58,701. From 2016–2017 to 2020–2021, the average annual number of U.S. deaths from excessive alcohol use increased by more than 40,000 (29%), from approximately 138,000 per year (2016–2017) to 178,000 per year (2020–2021).

Factors affecting alcohol consumption and alcohol-related harm

Evidence-based alcohol policies (e.g., reducing the number and concentration of places selling alcohol and increasing alcohol taxes) could help reverse increasing alcohol-attributable death rates. The report highlights that despite some reduction in the alcohol-related death rates since 2010, the overall number of deaths due to alcohol consumption remains unacceptably high and amounts to 2.6 million in 2019, with the highest numbers in the European Region and the African region. Alcohol consumption contributes to 2.6 million deaths each year globally as well as to the disabilities and poor health of millions of people. Overall, harmful use of alcohol is responsible for 4.7% of the global burden of disease. Effective treatment options for substance use disorders exist, but treatment coverage remains incredibly low.

  1. Explore topics related to alcohol misuse and treatment, underage drinking, the effects of alcohol on the human body, and more.
  2. These are increases of 27% among boys and men, and 35% among girls and women from just a few years earlier (2016–2017).
  3. References to non-CDC sites on the Internet are provided as a service to MMWR readers and do not constitute or imply endorsement of these organizations or their programs by CDC or the U.S.
  4. They include deaths where the primary (or underlying) cause of death listed on the death certificate was one of 58 alcohol-related causes.

WHO’s Global status report on alcohol and health and treatment of substance use disorders provides a comprehensive update based on 2019 data on the public health impact of alcohol and drug use and situation with alcohol consumption and treatment of substance use disorders worldwide. The report shows an estimated 400 million people lived with alcohol use disorders globally. The average annual number of deaths from excessive alcohol use among males increased by 25,244 (26.8%), from 94,362 deaths during 2016–2017 to 119,606 during 2020–2021 (Table 2). Age-standardized death rates among males increased from 54.8 per 100,000 population during 2016–2017 to 55.9 during 2018–2019, and to 66.9 during 2020–2021. During each period, among all excessive alcohol use cause of death categories, death rates among males were highest from 100% alcohol-attributable chronic conditions. Increases in deaths from excessive alcohol use during the study period occurred among all age groups.

They include deaths where the primary (or underlying) cause of death listed on the death certificate was one of 58 alcohol-related causes. Explore how many people ages 18 to 25 engage in alcohol misuse in the United States and the impact it has. Learn how many people ages 12 to 20 engage in underage alcohol misuse in the United States and the impact it has. Stigma, discrimination and misconceptions about the efficacy of treatment contribute to these critical gaps in treatment provision, as well as the continued low prioritization of substance use disorders by health and development agencies. U.S. deaths from causes fully due to excessive alcohol use increased during the past 2 decades. WHO has long recommended marketing restrictions in the contexts of tobacco and nicotine products, alcoholic beverages, foods and beverages with respect…

Deaths from causes fully attributable to alcohol use have increased during the past 2 decades in the United States, particularly from 2019 to 2020, concurrent with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, previous studies of trends have not assessed underlying causes of deaths that are partially attributable to alcohol use, such as injuries or certain types of cancer. CDC’s Alcohol-Related Disease Impact application was used to estimate the average annual number and age-standardized rate of deaths from excessive alcohol use in the United States based on 58 alcohol-related causes of death during three periods (2016–2017, 2018–2019, and 2020–2021). Average annual number of deaths from excessive alcohol use increased 29.3%, from 137,927 during 2016–2017 to 178,307 during 2020–2021; age-standardized alcohol-related death rates increased from 38.1 to 47.6 per 100,000 population. During this time, deaths from excessive alcohol use among males increased 26.8%, from 94,362 per year to 119,606, and among females increased 34.7%, from 43,565 per year to 58,701. Implementation of evidence-based policies that reduce the availability and accessibility of alcohol and increase its price (e.g., policies that reduce the number and concentration of places selling alcohol and increase alcohol taxes) could reduce excessive alcohol use and alcohol-related deaths.

Implications for Public Health Practice

In many of today’s societies, alcoholic beverages are a routine part of the social landscape for many in the population. This is particularly true for those in social environments with high visibility and societal influence, nationally and internationally, where alcohol frequently accompanies socializing. In this context, it is easy to overlook or discount the health and social damage caused or contributed to by drinking. Learn up-to-date facts and statistics on alcohol consumption and its impact in the United States and globally.

Explore topics related to alcohol misuse and treatment, underage drinking, the effects of alcohol on the human body, and more. A new report from the World Health Organization (WHO) highlights that 2.6 million deaths per year were attributable to alcohol consumption, accounting for 4.7% of all deaths, and 0.6 million deaths to psychoactive drug use. Notably, 2 million of alcohol and 0.4 million of drug-attributable deaths were among men. WHO has identified that the most cost-effective actions to reduce the harmful use of alcohol include increasing taxes on alcoholic beverages, enforcing restrictions on exposure to alcohol advertising, and restrictions on the physical availability of retailed alcohol. In addition, enforcing drink driving countermeasures and securing access to screening, brief interventions, and treatment are effective and ethically sound interventions.

Discover the impact alcohol has on children living with a parent or caregiver with alcohol use disorder.

Data Sources and Measures

All authors have completed and submitted the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors form for disclosure of potential conflicts of interest. Adam Sherk reports institutional support from the Canadian Cancer Society and Canadian Institutes for Health Research. These are increases of 27% among boys and men, and 35% among girls and women from just a few years earlier (2016–2017).

This regional workshop was planned to address the challenges of illicit tobacco trade and unrecorded alcohol consumption in the countries of the Region…. Alcohol-related deaths increased among all age groups (during 2020–2021) from just a few years earlier (2016–2017). Find up-to-date statistics on lifetime drinking, past-year drinking, past-month drinking, binge drinking, heavy alcohol use, and high-intensity drinking. In 2019, 38% of current drinkers had engaged in heavy episodic drinking, defined as consuming at least 60g of pure alcohol on one or more occasions in the preceding month – roughly equivalent to 4 or 5 glasses of wine, bottles of beer or servings of spirits. Total alcohol per capita consumption in the world population decreased slightly from 5.7 litres in 2010 to 5.5 litres in 2019. The highest levels of per capita consumption in 2019 were observed in the WHO European Region (9.2 litres) and the Region of Americas (7.5 litres).