Alcohol consumption levels, tobacco and illegal drug use varies around the world. An NPR story took a look at geographical areas where people tend to drink more and demonstrate dependency. It also explored the differences between consumption for men and women as well as some other data points. It provided the charts below based on data published in the journal, Addiction.
NPR examined not only the amount of alcohol consumed, but also provided an estimation of annual frequency.
Although these numbers don’t necessarily indicate whether or not certain populations are more prone to addiction, the study does illustrate how prominent dependence is around the world.
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Worldwide, some 5 percent of the world’s population — about 240 million people — are dependent on alcohol. The accepted mental health definitions of dependence speaks of compulsive use, loss of control over substance use, and a failure to stop using even when people are aware of the problems alcohol is causing. More than a billion people, or 20 percent of the human race, smoke tobacco.
Some insights from the report aren’t necessarily surprising. Russians and Eastern Europeans smoke and drink the most, while Muslim countries, notsomuch — they tended to have much lower levels of dependence. In most areas of the world, women drink and smoke less than men. But that’s generally the not the case in Western countries.
While drinking and smoking is “predominantly a male behavior” in some countries, lead author Dr. Linda Gowing, a professor at the University of Adelaide’s School of Medical Sciences, said that’s not the case in the West.
“What comes with women’s liberation is the right to keep up with males, and that applies to addiction as well.”
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Photo: Flickr user Carlsberg Group
