Wine with dinner, a drink after work, relaxing on the weekend with something stronger, liqueurs for health, and beer at cultural events—the culture of drinking alcohol is steadily gaining strength worldwide. For many, drinking alcohol is as natural as eating, working, or sleeping. We constantly find occasions to drink, rewarding ourselves for successes and drowning our failures. As addiction and health experts frequently point out, the problem is serious.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has published a report titled "Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health and Treatment of Substance Use Disorders." This 334-page document examines alcohol consumption globally and raises alarms: Europeans consume the most alcohol.

WHO researchers found that the average European man drinks 14.9 litres of pure alcohol per year, while women consume 4 litres annually. Statistically, each European drinks 9.2 litres of pure alcohol per year. The WHO report warns, "Alcohol is one of the most common causes of death in Europe," with alcohol estimated to cause around 800,000 deaths annually. Additionally, 5.9% of Europeans are dependent on alcohol.

Dr Gauden Galea, a WHO representative, stated at the conference summarising the report’s findings, "The WHO European Region continues to hold the unenviable record of having the highest levels of alcohol consumption and related harms worldwide, as well as the lowest number of abstainers."

The report reveals that North and South Americans rank second in alcohol consumption, with Americans, Canadians, and Hispanics drinking an average of 7.5 litres of pure alcohol per year.

Source: World Health Organization