A recent study on alcohol consumption by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) revealed that the Irish are among the world’s biggest drinkers. The study, which compared alcohol consumption in 33 countries, ranked Ireland eighth for average combined consumption by men and women, with the UK in third place, but first for female consumption.
The study shows that alcohol consumption in Ireland exceeds the OECD average, with 9.5 liters per capita versus 8.6 on average. However, it also notes that average consumption in Ireland has fallen by over 2 liters between 2011 and 2021, the biggest reduction among OECD countries, on a par with Lithuania.
The OECD recommends no more than 14 units of alcohol per week on a regular basis, equivalent to about six beers or glasses of wine. She adds that, on average, 2.4% of healthcare expenditure is devoted to managing the harm caused by alcohol consumption, with this figure rising to 4% in some countries.
With regard to other health indicators in Ireland, the country performs below average in terms of the prevalence of excessive alcohol consumption and opioid mortality rates.
However, Ireland stands out positively on other indicators, such as life expectancy, which stands at 82.4 years, 2.1 years above the OECD average. The country also has more practicing doctors and nurses per capita than the OECD average, but fewer hospital beds per capita.
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