Alcohol: drinking habits ‘deeply entrenched’

The amount of alcohol did not differ much. It is therefore between 9.2 liters in Southern European countries such as Italy and Greece, where wine is mainly consumed, and twelve liters in Eastern European countries such as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, where both spirits and other alcoholic drinks are consumed. .

In Austria people drink relatively much beer, but little spirits. The research team also defined countries with a lot of beer, schnapps and frequent drinking, such as Croatia and the Czech Republic, as well as countries with a lot of spirits, but at the same time also anti-alcoholics. Examples of this group are Ukraine and Bulgaria. Finally, a group is mentioned in which a particularly large number of people drink alcohol, often to the point of intoxication: Finland, Iceland and Ireland.

“Difficult to change”
The surveys were conducted in 2000, 2010, 2015 and 2019. At these times, the countries were largely stable, the international research team writes. “Europe remains a region with different drinking habits that appear to be deeply ingrained in culture and therefore difficult to change,” the study said.

However, in 2000 there was another group that consumed relatively little alcohol. Norway, Poland, Iceland and Sweden had the strictest alcohol restrictions at the time, but by 2010 they had all relaxed them again.

At the end of their work, the authors conclude that ways must be found to change the learned patterns. All European countries should ‘consider alcohol policy measures’ for health reasons.