Who: Europe tops the world in alcohol consumption per capita

According to the World Health Organization, Europe has made little progress in reducing alcohol consumption and harm. According to the latest data for 2019, WHO's European Region, which covers 53 member states in Europe and Central Asia, has the highest per capita alcohol consumption in the world.

Gauden Galea, Special adviser on noncommunicable diseases and innovation at WHO's regional director for Europe, said Thursday that the European region still has the highest level of alcohol consumption and the record of associated harms in the world, but the lowest number of abstinents. He said countries must make a strong push to implement policies that can effectively reduce alcohol consumption.

According to data, men in the European region consume almost four times as much alcohol as women each year, 14.9 liters versus 4.0 liters, the UN news Center reported. In 2019, 470 million people drank alcohol in the WHO European Region, an average of two out of every three adults.

However, since 2010, only 12 out of 53 countries in the region have made significant progress towards reducing alcohol consumption by 10%, as set out in the Global Monitoring Framework for NCDS and the European Alcohol Action Framework 2022-2025.

Several of the most populous countries, such as Russia, Turkey and Ukraine, have taken decisive action to significantly reduce alcohol consumption by raising alcohol excise taxes and restricting alcohol availability. However, in the EU countries, the level of alcohol consumption has not changed significantly in more than a decade.

Alcohol is the leading cause of death in Europe, killing nearly 800,000 people every year, or 2,200 people every day. Alcohol accounted for nearly 9% of all deaths in the region, the highest proportion of alcohol-induced deaths from all causes globally.

Non-communicable diseases (such as cardiovascular diseases, cancers, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases) account for 90% of all deaths in the WHO European region.

Who calls on all countries to step up efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and limit the commercial impact of driving high alcohol consumption. By implementing the most cost-effective intervention policies and other effective population-level strategies, which WHO calls "best buys", countries can significantly reduce the burden of alcohol-related illness, death, disability and injury.