Romanians rank among the biggest alcohol drinkers in Europe and prefer beer over wine

Romanians are among the biggest alcohol consumers in Europe, with an average consumption of 12.6 liters of pure alcohol per inhabitant aged 15 and above (15+) per year, and almost 12,000 people ar dying each year because of harmful use of alcohol, according to “Global status report on alcohol and health 2018” report released by the World Health Organization (WHO) consulted by Business Review.

Romania has the same level of average alcohol consumption with France and Slovenia. Romanians drink mostly beer (56 percent) and wine (28 percent), while 16 percent of drinkers prefer spirits.

However, the alcohol per capita (15+) consumption in Romania declined from 15 liters per capita in 2010 but remains above the Europe’s average of 9.8 liters per capita.

“Heavy episodic drinking among drinkers is very high (≥ 60% of current drinkers) in the Russian Federation, in some other European countries (e.g. Bulgaria, Poland, Romania),” the report said.

In Romania, 1.3 percent of inhabitants 15+ are considered alcohol dependent, while 13.5 percent are lifetime abstainers.

In 2016, 11,844 people in Romania died due to alcohol-attributable causes – 6,366 due to liver cirrhosis, 802 due to road traffic injuries, and 4,676 due to cancer.

In Europe, the countries with the biggest alcohol consumption are the Republic of Moldova (15.2 liters per capita), Lithuania (15 liters), the Czech Republic (14.4 liters), Germany (13.4 liters), Luxembourg and Ireland (both 13 liters).