Globally, on average, every person in the world aged 15 years or older drinks 6.2 litres of pure alcohol per year, the WHO said. As less than half the population (38.3%) drinks alcohol, this means that those who do drink consume on average 17 litres of pure alcohol annually.<\/p>\n
According to the organisation, in 2012, about 3.3 million deaths – or 5.9% of all global deaths – were attributable to alcohol consumption; 7.6% of deaths among males, and 4.0% of deaths among females.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore needs to be done to protect populations from the negative health consequences of alcohol consumption,\u201d said Dr Oleg Chestnov, WHO Assistant Director-General for Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe report clearly shows that there is no room for complacency when it comes to reducing the harmful use of alcohol.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Global](\"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Global-alcohol-consumption-2010.png\")
<\/a>Global alcohol consumption 2010 (click to enlarge)<\/p><\/div>\n
Globally, Europe was found to be the region with the highest consumption of alcohol per capita, with some of its countries having particularly high consumption rates.<\/p>\n
The organisation said that trend analysis indicated that the consumption level has been stable over the last 5 years in the region, as well as in Africa and the Americas – though increases have been reported in the South-East Asia and the Western Pacific regions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe found that worldwide about 16% of drinkers engage in heavy episodic drinking – often referred to as \u2018binge-drinking\u2019 – which is the most harmful to health,\u201d said Dr Shekhar Saxena, Director for Mental Health and Substance Abuse at WHO.<\/p>\n
“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.\u201d<\/p>\n
South Africa has the 29th highest level of alcohol consumption per capita in the world – 11.0 litres (tied with Belgium) – and the highest in Africa, above Gabon (10.9), Namibia (10.8) and Nigeria (10.1).<\/p>\n
Countries which have a higher consumption rate are predominantly found in Europe, with Bulgaria and Denmark (11.4), Croatia and France (12.2) and Finland (12.3) listed, amongst many others.<\/p>\n
The highest consumption countries include Russia (15.1), Lithuania (15.4), Moldova (16.8) and Belarus (17.5).<\/p>\n
Top 10 booziest countries (pure alcohol consumed)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n#<\/strong><\/td>\nCountry<\/strong><\/td>\nLitres per capita (drinkers only)
\n<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n1<\/td>\n Belarus<\/td>\n 17.5<\/strong> (22.1)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n2<\/td>\n Moldova<\/td>\n 16.8<\/strong> (25.4)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n3<\/td>\n Lithuania<\/td>\n 15.4<\/strong> (23.6)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n4<\/td>\n Russia<\/td>\n 15.1<\/strong> (22.3)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n5<\/td>\n Romania<\/td>\n 14.4<\/strong> (21.3)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n6<\/td>\n Ukraine<\/td>\n 13.9<\/strong> (20.3)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n7<\/td>\n Andorra<\/td>\n 13.8<\/strong> (20.1)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n8<\/td>\n Hungary<\/td>\n 13.3<\/strong> (16.3)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n9<\/td>\n Czech Republic<\/td>\n 13.0<\/strong> (14.6)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n10<\/td>\n Portugal<\/td>\n 12.9<\/strong> (22.6)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\nSouth Africa<\/h3>\n
In South Africa, the WHO estimates that the combined tangible and intangible costs of harmful use of alcohol to the SA economy reached nearly R300 billion – or 10\u201312% – of the 2009 gross domestic product.<\/p>\n
South Africa’s average alcohol consumption is almost double the WHO African region average of 6 litres.<\/p>\n
This is expected to increase marginally over the next decade, from 11.5 in 2015 to 12.1 in 2025.<\/p>\n
Further data shows that more than a quarter (25.6%) of the drinking population in South Africa are considered binge drinkers, consuming at least 60 grams or more of pure alcohol in one session within a 30-day period.<\/p>\n
This equates to 10.4% of the entire population over the age of 15. 30.2% of the South African population (aged 15+) are considered normal drinkers.<\/p>\n
Conversely, 59.4% of the population are abstainers – with 42.1% of that figure considered lifetime abstainers, while 17.3% are considered “former drinkers”, having not consumed alcohol for a period of 12 months.<\/p>\n
South African drinkers favour beer (48%) over wine (18%) and spirits (17%) – while other types of alcohol make up the remaining 17%.<\/p>\n
More on South Africa<\/h3>\n
SA students pour R6.1 billion into tech<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nWhat\u2019s inside South Africa\u2019s inflation basket?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nMichael Jordaan heads up wine organisation, WOSA<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n
#<\/strong><\/td>\n| Country<\/strong><\/td>\n | Litres per capita (drinkers only) | \n<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 1<\/td>\n | Belarus<\/td>\n | 17.5<\/strong> (22.1)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | 2<\/td>\n | Moldova<\/td>\n | 16.8<\/strong> (25.4)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | 3<\/td>\n | Lithuania<\/td>\n | 15.4<\/strong> (23.6)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | 4<\/td>\n | Russia<\/td>\n | 15.1<\/strong> (22.3)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | 5<\/td>\n | Romania<\/td>\n | 14.4<\/strong> (21.3)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | 6<\/td>\n | Ukraine<\/td>\n | 13.9<\/strong> (20.3)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | 7<\/td>\n | Andorra<\/td>\n | 13.8<\/strong> (20.1)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | 8<\/td>\n | Hungary<\/td>\n | 13.3<\/strong> (16.3)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | 9<\/td>\n | Czech Republic<\/td>\n | 13.0<\/strong> (14.6)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | 10<\/td>\n | Portugal<\/td>\n | 12.9<\/strong> (22.6)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n | South Africa<\/h3>\nIn South Africa, the WHO estimates that the combined tangible and intangible costs of harmful use of alcohol to the SA economy reached nearly R300 billion – or 10\u201312% – of the 2009 gross domestic product.<\/p>\n South Africa’s average alcohol consumption is almost double the WHO African region average of 6 litres.<\/p>\n This is expected to increase marginally over the next decade, from 11.5 in 2015 to 12.1 in 2025.<\/p>\n Further data shows that more than a quarter (25.6%) of the drinking population in South Africa are considered binge drinkers, consuming at least 60 grams or more of pure alcohol in one session within a 30-day period.<\/p>\n This equates to 10.4% of the entire population over the age of 15. 30.2% of the South African population (aged 15+) are considered normal drinkers.<\/p>\n Conversely, 59.4% of the population are abstainers – with 42.1% of that figure considered lifetime abstainers, while 17.3% are considered “former drinkers”, having not consumed alcohol for a period of 12 months.<\/p>\n South African drinkers favour beer (48%) over wine (18%) and spirits (17%) – while other types of alcohol make up the remaining 17%.<\/p>\n More on South Africa<\/h3>\nSA students pour R6.1 billion into tech<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n What\u2019s inside South Africa\u2019s inflation basket?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Michael Jordaan heads up wine organisation, WOSA<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n |