Underage drinking has greatly declined through the years, but heavy drinking in the 20s and 30s is a lingering problem. Over 60% of 26-to-44-year-olds drink, and 55% percent of adults 45 to 64 years old drink. Rates of alcohol use generally go up with income and educational attainment. When zooming out to alcohol consumption in the past year, over 60% of U.S. adults said they drank, according to the 2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
Prevalence of Past-Month Heavy Alcohol Use
As the map shows, the average per capita alcohol consumption varies widely globally. The World Health Organization World Mental Health (WMH) Survey Initiative is supported by the United States National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH; R01 MH070884), the John D. This study was supported by an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) project grant (APP ). We thank the staff of the WMH Data Collection and Data Analysis Coordination Centres for assistance with instrumentation, fieldwork, and consultation on data analysis.
Alcohol-related deaths by age
Consumer data from 71,500 American households found national alcohol sales went up by almost $2.5 billion (34.4%) — up to $9.55 billion — in the first few months of the pandemic compared to the same time period in 2019. Households with higher incomes had larger relative increases in alcohol purchases during the pandemic, but buying went up across geographic areas and demographic groups. And while alcohol purchasing seemed to slow down a bit in 2023, sales of “ready-to-drink” cocktails continued to increase — more than doubling since 2019, up to $10.7 billion. Alcohol use is most prevalent among people in their early-to-mid-20s, and tends to decrease slightly as people age.
Data on Excessive Alcohol Use
In the past month, half of them did not drink alcohol, according to federal data. This is roughly the spread of drinkers in the American population at any given time. They include deaths where the primary (or underlying) cause of death listed on the death certificate was one of 58 alcohol-related causes. The economic burden of alcohol abuse and alcoholism in the United States is staggering, particularly lost productivity. Alcohol use disorder, which includes alcohol dependence, is defined in the WHO’s International Classification of Diseases (available here). Alcohol use disorder (AUD) refers to the drinking of alcohol that causes mental and physical health problems.
Alcohol use disorder treatment
- This increase translates to an average of approximately 488 deaths each day from excessive drinking during 2020–2021.
- During each period, among all excessive alcohol use cause of death categories, death rates among males were highest from 100% alcohol-attributable chronic conditions.
- Alcohol abuse, alcoholism, and alcohol use disorder (AUD) kill over 3 million people each year, accounting for up to 6% of global deaths.
- The charts show global consumption of beer, first in terms of beer as a share of total alcohol consumption, and then the estimated average consumption per person.
Beer contains around 5% of pure alcohol per volume1 so that one liter of beer contains 0.05 liters of pure alcohol. This pattern of drinking is often termed ‘binging,’ where individuals consume large amounts of alcohol within a single session versus small quantities more frequently. Alcohol-related deaths in Tennessee are much more likely to involve acute causes.
Globally, the age-standardized death rate has declined from approximately 40 deaths per 100,000 people in the early 1990s to 30 deaths per 100,000 in 2019. The first map shows this in terms of spirits as a share of total alcohol consumption. In many Asian Alcoholism Statistics countries, spirits account for most of total alcohol consumption. Here, we see particularly high levels of alcohol abstinence across North Africa and the Middle East. In most countries in this region, the majority of adults have never drunk alcohol.
Alcohol-related deaths in North Dakota are among the most likely to be due to chronic causes. Alcohol-related deaths are more likely to involve older, female, and chronic users. Statistics indicate Georgia has a higher rate of underage drinkers than the majority of states. Children aged 17 years and younger are much more likely to live with an alcoholic parent than they are to be diagnosed with a learning disability or ADHD. Rates of current drinking were highest among 15–19-year-olds in the European region (45.9%) followed by the Americas (43.9%).
Emerging Trend—High-Intensity Drinking
Average annual number of deaths from excessive alcohol use increased 29.3%, from 137,927 during 2016–2017 to 178,307 during 2020–2021; age-standardized alcohol-related death rates increased from 38.1 to 47.6 per 100,000 population. During this time, deaths from excessive alcohol use among males increased 26.8%, from 94,362 per year to 119,606, and among females increased 34.7%, from 43,565 per year to 58,701. During this time, deaths from excessive drinking among males increased https://ecosoberhouse.com/ approximately 27%, from 94,362 per year to 119,606, and among females increased approximately 35%, from 43,565 per year to 58,701. The average annual number of deaths from excessive alcohol use among males increased by 25,244 (26.8%), from 94,362 deaths during 2016–2017 to 119,606 during 2020–2021 (Table 2). Age-standardized death rates among males increased from 54.8 per 100,000 population during 2016–2017 to 55.9 during 2018–2019, and to 66.9 during 2020–2021.
Connecticut Alcohol Abuse Statistics
There were significant differences in AUD prevalence across the WHO Regions. The Eastern Mediterranean region which had the lowest per capita alcohol consumption and the lowest proportion of drinkers also had the lowest past year and lifetime AUD prevalences. Presumably low consumption and high abstention are limiting factors on the development of AUDs in the general population of a country or region. Supporting this, the range of AUD prevalences across the WHO Regions narrows when considering only lifetime alcohol non-abstainers.
Alaska Alcohol Abuse Statistics
- The average lifetime prevalence of ALA for all countries was 6.3%, ranging from 0.5% in Iraq to 18.7% in Australia.
- Michigan has a slightly higher rate of alcohol-related deaths and female drinking deaths.
- As scientific information emerges, experts are becoming increasingly concerned about Americans’ drinking patterns, and how best to talk to the public about its potential risks.
The WMH surveys corroborate the wide geographic consistency of a number of well-documented clinical and epidemiological findings and patterns. Virginia has fewer alcohol-related deaths per capita than most other states. Pennsylvania’s alcohol-related deaths are less likely to be due to chronic causes. Alcohol-related deaths in Idaho are more likely to be older, chronic alcohol users. Delaware’s alcohol-related death rate has skyrocketed over the last few years.
