Alcohol is blamed for one in 20 deaths as reduced consumption remains elusive

Europeans drank less alcohol in 2016 than in 2005 but remain the biggest consumers in the world, each drinking 9.8 L a year, says the World Health Organization’s latest report on global alcohol consumption.1

Globally, no progress has been made in reducing per capita alcohol consumption, which is forecast to increase over the next 10 years, the report said.

Some three million deaths worldwide (5.3% of all deaths) resulted from alcohol use in 2016, it added. While this is a reduction from the 2012 estimate of 3.3 million, it still represents one in 20 deaths. Over three quarters of these deaths were among men.

China, where alcohol consumption per capita increased from 4.1 L …