Alcohol use, and its risks, growing around the globe

Global alcohol use continues to rise, a new study reports, and is expected to continue to grow in the years ahead.

In fact, just in the past 27 years, the total volume of alcohol people consumed globally each year increased by 70% – from 5.5 billion gallons in 1990 to 9.4 billion gallons in 2017. That’s a result of increased population along with increased alcohol consumption.

As of 2017, the most recent year for which statistics are available, the increase equates to about 1.7 gallons of pure alcohol per year per adult. That means an adult averages about one drink a day, whether it’s a 12-ounce beer, 5 ounces of wine or 11⁄2 ounces of distilled spirits, the study said.

Consumption is growing in low- and middle-income countries, while the volume of alcohol consumed in highincome countries has remained stable.

“Before 1990, most alcohol was consumed in high-income countries, with the highest use levels recorded in Europe,” said study author Jakob Manthey of the Technical University of Dresden, Germany. “However, this pattern has changed substantially, with large reductions across Eastern Europe and vast increases in several middle-income countries such as China, India, and Vietnam.”

The study analyzed data from 189 countries.

“This trend is forecast to continue up to 2030 when Europe is no longer predicted to have the highest level of alcohol use,” Manthey said.

The regions with the lowest percapita consumption were in North Africa and the Middle East, the study said. And despite the reductions, the heaviest drinkers live in Central and Eastern European countries.

The estimates also suggest that by 2030, half of the world’s adults will drink, and almost a quarter (23%) will binge-drink at least once a month.

That means the world is not on track to meet alcohol reduction efforts recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). The body, in a report in September, said more than 3 million people died as a result of harmful use of alcohol in 2016, or one in 20 deaths.

“Based on our data, the WHO’s aim of reducing the harmful use of alcohol by 10% by 2025 will not be reached,” Manthey said. “Instead, alcohol use will remain one of the leading risk factors for the burden of disease for the foreseeable future.” Alcohol is a major risk factor for disease, the study said, and is linked to more than 200 diseases.

Sarah Callinan of Australia’s La Trobe University warned that the global shift from high-income to lower-income countries could lead to disproportionate increases in harm. She said that’s because the harm per gallon of alcohol is substantially higher in low-income and middle-income countries than in highincome countries.

Tuesday’s study was published in the British medical journal The Lancet.