It is estimated that alcohol contributes to around three million deaths worldwide per year. That is about five percent of all deaths each year. The major causes of alcohol-related death include alcohol poisoning, liver damage, heart failure, cancer, and car accidents.

Alcohol abuse worldwide Despite the widespread use of alcohol around the world, a global survey from 2021 of people from 30 different countries, found that around 11 percent of respondents stated alcohol abuse was the biggest health problem facing people in their country. It is currently estimated that around 1.38 percent of the global population has alcohol use disorder, however binge drinking and excessive alcohol use, both of which carry health risks, are much more common. The countries with the highest per capita consumption of alcohol include Czechia, Latvia, and the Republic of Moldova.

Alcohol consumption in the United States It is estimated that around 60 percent of adults in the United States aged 21 to 49 years currently use alcohol. Binge drinking (four or more drinks for women and five or more drinks for men on a single occasion) is most common among those aged 21 to 25 years, but still around 29 percent of those aged 40 to 44 report binge drinking. The states with the highest share of the population who binge drink are Wisconsin, North Dakota, and Montana. The death rate due to alcohol in the United States was around 13 per 100,000 population in 2020, an increase from a rate of 10.4 per 100,000 recorded in 2019.

Alcohol consumption among the US public is at a relatively similar rate in the 21st century as it was in the nineteenth. The first drop in consumption appeared in the 1860s and 1870s, due to the American Civil War and the period of economic recovery that followed. After this, consumption rose again until the First World War, before it fell from 9.7 liters per person per year in 1915 to 7.4 in 1919. Following the war, the 18th Amendment to the US Constitution came into effect, which prohibited the importation, manufacturing and sale (but not consumption) of alcohol. From this point until Prohibition's end, there are no reliable figures regarding alcohol consumption in the US, however some sources suggest that consumption fell to thirty percent of its pre-prohibition levels in the first few years, but then grew to sixty or seventy percent by prohibition's end.

High spirits in the 70s and 80s

Total consumption then grew again in the 1930s and 40s, reaching 8.7 liters per person in 1946, before it plateaued at around 7.6 liters per person per year in the 1950s. Alcohol consumption then increased gradually to more than ten liters per person per year in the 1970s and 1980s, which was the highest rate of alcohol consumption in recorded US history. It then dropped to just over eight liters in the late 1990s, and gradually increased again to 8.9 liters per person in 2013, which is similar to figures recorded more than 160 years previously.

Beer moves a-head

The late 1800s also saw a major shift in the type of alcohol consumed. In 1850, 7.1 out of the eight liters consumed was through spirits, while beer and wine made up 0.5 and 0.3 liters respectively. However, by the turn of the twentieth century, alcohol was most commonly consumed through beer, and excluding a brief increase in spirits consumption in the 1960s, beer has been the most common source of alcohol since 1900. Alcohol from wine consumption has also gradually increased throughout US history, reaching its highest point in 2013, where the average US citizen consumed 1.6 liters of alcohol per year by drinking wine.

According to a survey from 2023, around 25 percent of U.S. college students who drank alcohol in the past two weeks had 5 or more (males) or 4 or more (females) drinks in one sitting one time within the past two weeks. This statistic presents the percentage of college students in the U.S. that had 5 or more alcoholic drinks (males) or four or more alcoholic drinks (females) in one sitting within the past two weeks as of fall 2023.

This statistical report presents a range of information on alcohol use and misuse drawn together from a variety of published sources and presented in a user friendly format. The report aims to present a broad picture of health issues relating to alcohol in England and covers topics such as drinking habits and behaviours among adults and school children, drinking related ill health and mortality, affordability of alcohol and alcohol related costs.

According to a survey from 2023, around 35 percent of college students in the United States who had ever drunk alcohol had used alcohol weekly during the past 3 months. This statistic presents the percentage of college students in the U.S. that had used alcohol (beer, wine, liquor) during the past 3 months as of fall 2023, by frequency.

In 2023, around 4.7 percent of persons with a Black or African American ethnicity claimed to have heavy alcohol use in the past month. Heavy use refers to five or more drinks on the same occasion on each of five or more days in the last 30 days. This statistic displays the percentage of persons in the U.S. aged 12 or older who had current, binge, and heavy alcohol use in the past month, by race/ethnicity, in 2023.

Dominican Republic DO: Alcohol Consumption Rate: Projected Estimates: Aged 15+: Female data was reported at 2.200 NA in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 2.300 NA for 2010. Dominican Republic DO: Alcohol Consumption Rate: Projected Estimates: Aged 15+: Female data is updated yearly, averaging 2.250 NA from Dec 2010 (Median) to 2016, with 2 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 2.300 NA in 2010 and a record low of 2.200 NA in 2016. Dominican Republic DO: Alcohol Consumption Rate: Projected Estimates: Aged 15+: Female data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Dominican Republic – Table DO.World Bank.WDI: Health Statistics. Total alcohol per capita consumption is defined as the total (sum of recorded and unrecorded alcohol) amount of alcohol consumed per person (15 years of age or older) over a calendar year, in litres of pure alcohol, adjusted for tourist consumption.; ; World Health Organization, Global Health Observatory Data Repository (http://apps.who.int/ghodata/).; Weighted average;

Colorado HSR BRFSS Binge Drinking Prevalence represents the Percent of Adults who Binge Drink calculated from the 2018-2022 Colorado Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (Health Statistics Region Estimates) data set. These data represent the estimated prevalence of Binge Drinking among adults (Age 18+) for each Health Statistics Region (HSR) in Colorado. Binge Drinking is defined for males as having five or more drinks on one occasion and for females as having four or more drinks on one occasion within the past 30 days. Binge Drinking is calculated from the number of days alcohol was consumed in the past 30 days, and the average number of drinks consumed on those days. Data is suppressed if there was not enough data to calculate a reliable estimate. The estimate for each HSR was derived from multiple years of Colorado Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data (2018-2022). This file was developed for use in activities and exercises within the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), including the Alcohol Outlet Density StoryMap.COUNTIES (County Names that are included in each Health Statistic Region)Health Statistics Region (Colorado Health Statistics Region ID)Binge Percent (Region estimate for prevalence of Binge Drinking among adults Age 18+)Lower Confidence Limit (Lower 95% Confidence Interval for Binge Percent Value)Upper Confidence Limit (Upper 95% Confidence Interval for Binge Percent Value)Years (2018-2022)

Colombia CO: Alcohol Consumption Rate: Projected Estimates: Aged 15+: Female data was reported at 1.800 NA in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 1.600 NA for 2010. Colombia CO: Alcohol Consumption Rate: Projected Estimates: Aged 15+: Female data is updated yearly, averaging 1.700 NA from Dec 2010 (Median) to 2016, with 2 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1.800 NA in 2016 and a record low of 1.600 NA in 2010. Colombia CO: Alcohol Consumption Rate: Projected Estimates: Aged 15+: Female data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Colombia – Table CO.World Bank.WDI: Health Statistics. Total alcohol per capita consumption is defined as the total (sum of recorded and unrecorded alcohol) amount of alcohol consumed per person (15 years of age or older) over a calendar year, in litres of pure alcohol, adjusted for tourist consumption.; ; World Health Organization, Global Health Observatory Data Repository (http://apps.who.int/ghodata/).; Weighted average;

As per the results of a large scale survey conducted across India in 2021, majority of older adults between 45 and 59 years old consumed alcohol in the country. Teenagers made up an alarming 8.3 percent, despite minimum drinking age varying across some states in the country.

As of 2023, approximately 25 percent of U.S. adults with a serious mental illness reported alcohol dependency or abuse within the past year. This statistic depicts the percentage of adults in the United States with alcohol dependence or abuse as of 2023, sorted by level of mental illness.

In 2023, around 28 percent of males between 18 and 25 years old claimed to have binge drank alcohol in the past month. Alcoholism refers to problems with alcohol and often refers to alcohol addiction. Alcohol has the potential to cause damage to all organs of the body. This statistic displays the percentage of persons in the U.S. who had binge used alcohol in the past month among persons aged 18 to 25 years, by gender, from 2002 to 2023.

In 2022, around 15.6 percent of women aged 18 to 25 had an alcohol use disorder in the past year. The statistic illustrates the percentage of U.S. women who had an alcohol use disorder in the past year in 2022, by age.

Statistics illustrates the net export value of Lauryl Alcohol, Cetyl Alcohol, Stearyl Alcohol and Other Saturated Monohydric Alcohols (Excluding Methyl, Propyl and Isopropyl, N-butyl, Other Butanols, Octyl) in Saint Pierre and Miquelon from 2007 to 2024 by trade partner.

This statistic displays the share of individuals who drank alcohol in the preceding six months in Ireland as of 2023/24, by age and gender. Of individuals aged between 25 and 34 years old, 82 percent of men and 74 percent of women had consumed alcohol in the previous twelve months.

In 2022, the total alcohol consumption in California was around 94 million gallons of ethanol (pure alcohol). The Health People program initiated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services established a nationwide objective of no more than 2.1 gallons of alcohol per capita. This statistic shows the alcohol consumption of all beverages in the United States in 2022, by state.

New Hampshire is currently the state with the highest per capita alcohol consumption in the United States. Per capita alcohol consumption has increased since the mid-1990s, with beer as the most commonly consumed alcoholic beverage. The beer market in the U.S. was estimated to amount to over 145 billion dollars by 2027. Binge drinking Although New Hampshire consumes the highest amount of alcohol per capita, it reports lower rates of binge drinking than other states. The states with the highest binge drinking rates include the District of Columbia, North Dakota, and Montana. Binge drinking is typically defined as the consumption of 5 or more drinks within 2 hours for men and 4 or more drinks within 2 hours for women. Binge drinking is the most common form of excessive alcohol use and is associated with serious risks. Binge drinking risks Health risks associated with binge drinking include cancer, chronic diseases such as liver disease and heart disease, alcohol dependence, and unintentional injury such as from car crashes. Although the dangers of drinking and driving are clear, it remains a problem across the United States. In 2022, around 8.5 percent of those aged 21 to 25 reported driving a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol in the preceding year.