One in 25 deaths worldwide due to alcohol

Published on Thursday 25 June 2009 23:04

A TENTH of deaths in Europe and one in 25 worldwide can be attributed to drinking alcohol, a report says today.

Alcohol also accounted for 5 per cent of years lived with disability around the world.

The findings, published in the Lancet medical journal today, found that average global alcohol consumption was about 12 units per person per week.

A pint of mild beer contains two units, as does a large glass of wine.

In Europe, people drink 21.5 units a week – almost twice the world average – while average consumption in the US is 18 units. The lowest consumers were those in the eastern Mediterranean, who downed just 1.3 units.

In 2004, the latest year for which global figures were available, 3.8 per cent of all deaths around the world – or one in 25 – were due to drinking alcohol.

Among Europeans, alcohol was directly responsible for as many as one in ten deaths.

Within Europe, the former Soviet Union countries suffered the greatest burden, with 15 per cent of all deaths, or one in seven, caused by alcohol.