Alcohol harm costs $7.8b a year

Optimistic numbers show that more than half of the alcohol drunk in New Zealand is harmful – costing each New Zealander $1635 a year.

That cost – which annually dwarfs money paid out for Treaty of Waitangi settlements – didn’t even factor in ‘‘intergenerational harm’’, which would push that number higher still, Berl principal economist Ganesh Nana said.

But New Zealand Alcohol Beverages Council executive director Nick Leggett has poured cold water on the ‘‘anti-alcohol lobby’’ figures, arguing they came from ‘‘debunked’’ methodology.

New Zealanders were now drinking less than ever before and starting drinking later, he said.

Nana presented his figures to a conference at Te Papa on who should pay for the harm caused by alcohol.

That harm in New Zealand cost $7.8 billion annually, compared to $2.2b spent on Treaty of Waitangi settlements since the 1990s.

He found alcohol-related harm cost every New Zealander $1635 each per year.

‘‘Lost production of labour is costing us $3.3b a year, health costs combined with road crashes $860 million, and alcohol-fuelled crime $1.1b a year.’’

The remaining billions was down to ‘‘intangible costs’’ such as deaths and reduced life quality, he said.

More than half of the $3.3b lost on production included people calling in sick after drinking, lower production when they did show, and those unemployed due to drinking.

‘‘Sixty to 70 per cent of all alcohol drunk in New Zealand is harmful, people drinking over what is medically desirable.

‘‘If all drinkers in New Zealand drank the safe [amount], New Zealand would be drinking only 30 per cent of what we currently drink.’’

Up to one-quarter of all New Zealand drinkers were consuming to excess, he said.

Nana warned the figures were old – from a 2009 to 2010 study using 2005 to 2006 data – but said medical evidence suggested things had worsened.

He advocated for an increase in alcohol pricing and reducing the availability of alcohol to combat the problem.

But Leggett argued New Zealanders were now drinking one-quarter

‘‘Lost production of labour is costing us $3.3b a year, health costs combined with road crashes $860 million, and alcoholfuelled crime $1.1b a year.’’ Ganesh Nana, of Berl

less than they were in the 1980s and harm had also dropped.

‘‘We have made huge cultural leaps with alcohol but we need to keep our feet on the pedal — we can’t afford to relax.’’

The problem was best dealt with by targeting those who abused alcohol through education and ‘‘societal measures that go to the heart of the problem, such as monitoring and acting on recidivism’’, he said.

‘‘The figures are not independent, they have been funded by the anti-alcohol lobby and the methodology has previously been debunked.

‘‘It double-counts some costs and doesn’t factor in the benefits, which is absurd. Eighty per cent of Kiwis drink and enjoy the benefits, whether they be social or relaxation.’’

Eric Crampton, of think-tank NZ Initiative, said many of Nana’s figures were based on the 2009 study which had been mocked in economic circles for things such as double-counting.

Using total cost figures to inform policy was useless. For example, raising excise on alcohol may penalise moderate drinkers but studies showed that would only slightly reduce what heavy drinkers consumed.