Indians Are Chugging Alcohol More Than Ever But There Is Something More Alarming Than That

Indians are chugging more alcohol than ever. According to a study published by The Lancet journal, alcohol consumption in India has increased by a whopping 38% between 2010 and 2017

By: Chandan Kumar |
May 9, 2019 3:39 pm

Are you nursing a hangover?

The answer to that question, if you happen to be an Indian, is most likely to be a “yes”.

Indians are chugging more alcohol than ever. According to a study published by The Lancet journal, alcohol consumption in India has increased by a whopping 38% between 2010 and 2017. Alcohol consumption by Indian adults has jumped from 4.3 to 5.9 liters per year.

And what about the rest of the countries?

The report published on Wednesday has also found the total volume of alcohol consumed globally per year has risen by 70 % –from 20,999 million litres to 35,676 million litres—between 1990 and 2017. The report, which studied the alcohol intake in 189 countries, notes that the consumption is growing in low and middle-income countries while that in the high-income countries remained stable.“Before 1990, most alcohol was consumed in high-income countries, with the highest use levels recorded in Europe,” said study author Jakob Manthey.”However, this pattern has changed substantially, with large reductions across Eastern Europe and vast increases in several middle-income countries such as China, India, and Vietnam. This trend is forecast to continue up to 2030 when Europe is no longer predicted to have the highest level of alcohol use,” Manthey added.

Estimates also show that by 2030, half of all adults will drink alcohol, and close to a quarter (23 %) will binge drink at least once a month. According to Manthey, the World Health Organization (WHO)’s aim of reducing the harmful use of alcohol by 10 percent by 2025 will not be reached globally. The report further calls for policy measures such as increasing taxation, restricting the availability and banning alcohol marketing and advertising to be introduced globally, especially in developing countries which has a growing rate of alcohol usage.

Another alarming issue that needs to be addressed is underage drinking, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism about 35 percent of teens across the globe have had at least 1 drink by the age of 15, whereas, about 65 percent of teens have had at least 1 drink by the age of 18. Alcohol kills 2.6 lakh Indians every year either by causing liver cirrhosis, cancer or leading to road accidents due to drunk driving, says WHO report 2018.
WHO report 2018