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Written By: Editorial Team | Published : May 15, 2014 2:17 PM IST
Russia and neighboring countries like the Ukraine and Poland consume the highest amounts of alcohol per capita in the world, according to a wide sweeping report released by the World Health Organization this week. After combining the recorded per capita alcohol consumption and the estimated unrecorded consumption rates per person a year, analysts at the WHO have charted a map that provides a revealing look at drinking patterns around the world. According to the map, part of the 'Global status report on alcohol and health 2014,' Russians tip back more than double the global average, consuming more than 12.5 liters per person a year. Given that less than half the world population (38 percent) drinks alcohol, however, the global average of 6.2 liters per capita could also be recalculated to spike to an average of 17 liters among those who do drink, authors say.
Interestingly, the only other country to buck the Russian and Eastern European trend is Portugal, where consumers also drink more than 12.5 liters a year -- the same as Poland, Romania, Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia. According to the chart, the French, British, Spanish and Germans share similar consumption patterns to Canadians and Aussies (10 to 12.4 liters) and outdrink consumers in the US, Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Peru. Americans and their counterparts in South America drink an average of 7.5 to 9.9 liters a year. (Read: Why is alcohol bad for your liver?)
Predictably, countries that drink the least are predominantly Muslim countries in Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. The report also points out noteworthy gender divides when it comes to alcohol abuse: Nearly double the number of men die from alcohol-related causes compared to women (8 percent versus 4 percent). Authors note, however, that alcohol consumption is rising steadily -- and worryingly -- among women. (Read: Can alcohol cause cancer?)
Most consumed alcoholic beverages
Globally, the report found that the most popular alcohol comes in the form of spirits (50 percent), the tipple of choice for consumers in Southeast Asia and Western Pacific regions. The second most consumed beverage is beer -- particularly in the Americas. Overall, beer accounts for about 35 percent of all recorded alcohol consumed in the world. And though wine represents a quarter of the total alcohol consumption in Europe, on a worldwide scale vino accounts for just eight percent of total recorded alcohol.
How much do people drink?
On an average every person in the world aged 15 or above drinks 6.2 litres of pure alcohol per year but since only 38.3% of the population actually drinks, those who drink are actually drinking 17 litres per year. The study also found that men were likelier to die of alcohol consumption than women though women who drink tend to be more vulnerable.
'We found that worldwide about 16% of drinkers engage in heavy episodic drinking often referred to as 'binge-drinking' which is the most harmful to health,' explains Dr Shekhar Saxena, Director for Mental Health and Substance Abuse at WHO. 'Lower-income groups are more affected by the social and health consequences of alcohol. They often lack quality health care and are less protected by functional family or community networks.'
Worldwide, Europe drinks the most alcohol per capita though there have been reports of increasing consumptions in South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions.
The situation in India
While India's the traditionally non-drinking culture and consumption of liquor is usually frowned upon in many parts of the countries, the amount of consumption has gone up in the last decade with 32% men and 10% women above 15 drinking alcohol. India was reps
The problem is worst in our national capital according to a new survey. An astonishing 83.8 percent boys and 64.6 percent girls in Delhi start drinking before age 18, and 11.1 percent boys and 2.1 percent girls spend around Rs.8,000 on alcohol per month, revealed a survey released on Monday. (Read: Think before you drink alcohol kills six people every minute!)
With inputs from AFP
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