Ireland ranks third in the world for pubs per head, new report finds

The latest alcohol overview from Ire‐ land's Health Research Board (HRB) re‐ veals that despite a decline in pubs, Ire‐ land still ranks third-highest in the world for the number of pubs per head.

The report further found that three in four people in Ireland live within walking distance of a premise licensed to sell al‐ cohol.

The report also highlights that the de‐ cline in the number of pubs in Ireland matches the increase in o licences. The newly published alcohol overview - "Alcohol: availability, a ordability, re‐ lated harm, and policy in Ireland" - is the fifth in a series that examines data and trends on alcohol use and related conse‐ quences over time in Ireland.

Anne Doyle, HRB Research O cer and lead author of the report, said: “This is the first time that we have looked at ac‐ cessibility to alcohol in detail. "Using geospatial analysis, we also found there is a greater density of li‐ censed premises in deprived communi‐ ties.

"This is significant because evidence shows that people in deprived areas are more likely to experience alcohol-related harms, despite consumption being lower or equal to a uent areas.”

Among the key findings of the report was that the average annual consump‐ tion for people aged 15 years and over in 2023 was 9.9 liters of pure alcohol. This equates to 37 bottles of vodka (70cl), 104 bottles of wine, or 400 pints of beer.

Almost one in three people aged 15 years and over in Ireland do not drink at all, the report found, with an increase in abstainers from 25% in 2018 to 30% in 2022.

The report found that harmful and haz‐ ardous drinking patterns are impacting people’s health and health services in Ireland.

Alcohol use is the eighth leading cause of death in Ireland, with one person dy‐ ing every day due to alcohol-related liver disease, and more than one in three road user fatalities had been drinking prior to the incident.

One in five emergency department hos‐ pitalizations are due to alcohol and al‐ most 19,000 hospitalisations are attrib‐ utable to alcohol alone in 2021. Alcohol is still the substance for which people in Ireland seek treatment the most. The number of cases receiving treatment for alcohol use in 2022 was higher than that of cocaine and cannabis combined. On a positive note, 45% com‐ pleted their treatment course and more than half of people were alcohol-free when leaving treatment.

Ireland is ranked eighth out of 30 coun‐ tries for the proportion of household in‐ come spent on alcohol. Although alcohol has increased in price, it has kept in line with inflation.

There were 5,527 incidents of drink-dri‐ ving, and 9,917 incidents of drunken‐ ness recorded on PULSE in 2022. Dr Mairéad O’Driscoll, HRB Chief Execu‐ tive, said “The increase in the number of people choosing not to drink and the de‐ cline in consumption per capita is posi‐ tive.

"However, the way many people drink is harmful which is reflected in alcohol-re‐ lated hospitalizations and deaths, as well as high numbers of people receiving treatment for problem alcohol use.” Legislation to address alcohol use in Ire‐ land continues to be implemented. In the past three years, there have been re‐ strictions on advertising, separation of alcohol from other products in super‐ markets and shops and the introduction of Minimum Unit Price. By 2026, Ire‐ land will also have the most comprehen‐ sive health warning labels on alcohol products seen in the world.

Dr. O'Driscoll concluded: “The recent implementation of the Public Health (Al‐ cohol) Act will require time to take ef‐ fect.

"By continuing to monitor trends over time, the HRB can review the impact of new legislation and inform policy re‐ sponses that continue to reduce harm and support recovery.”

The full report can be downloaded here.