The health consequences of alcohol and drug abuse

Recorded sales of alcohol increased at the end of the 1990s and peaked in 2004. Total consumption is obtained by adding unrecorded consumption (legal and illegal) to recorded sales. In 2010, the total consumption was 9.1 litres per person versus 8.0 litres1 in 1996. Consumption of wine and strong beer has risen, while consumption of spirits has declined. Self-reported data also shows that consumption rose between 1990 and 2004 and has subsequently declined. Alcohol consumption in 2010 was 2.3 litres for women.and 5.0 litres for men. However, the figures for self-reported consumption are lower than actual consumption, which was estimated at 5.8 litres for women and 12.5 for men respectively in 2010. Although alcohol consumption has increased over the past 20 years, Sweden is among the countries in Europe with the lowest consumption rates. However, whereas young people in Sweden drink roughly the same amount of alcohol as young people in the rest of the EU, consumption among middle-aged people is lower than in the rest of the EU. Obtaining data on the extent to which risky alcohol consumption has also increased in the 1990s, and decreased in more recent years, is more difficult. The percentage of men who drink the equivalent of two or more glasses of wine per day – regarded as a relatively high level of consumption – increased from 6 to 8 per cent between 1990 and 2002. The percentage of women who drink a corresponding amount – 1.5 or more glasses of wine per day – has risen from 2 to 5 per cent. Reported comsumption of at least one bottle of wine (or its equivalent) on a single occasion, at least once a week in the previous month could be classified as binge drinking has decreased between 2004 and 2010 (13 to 9 per cent among men and 4 to 3 per cent among women). People’s alcohol consumption changes throughout their lives. In all age groups, women drink significantly less alcohol than men. Men aged 20–24 drink the most: an estimated average of 20 litres of pure alcohol consumed in 2010, equivalent to twenty tins of beer per week. The older women and men become the less alcohol they consume. However, women and men aged 30-39 consume less than in the 50–64 age group. This coincides with the age at which many are responsible for small children. What may be regarded as risky alcohol habits are also most frequently found among young people. Alcohol consumption among girls and boys in the 9th grade of compulsory school also increased at the end of the 1990s, according to self-reported data. Consumption peaked in 2000 but has subsequently declined. Meanwhile, the percentage of pupils in the 9th grade who do not drink at all has increased; in 2010, it stands at 39 per cent of boys and 32 per cent of girls. As in the case of adult men and women, boys drink more than girls. More men than women die of an alcohol-related disease, i.e. as a direct result of the harmful effects to the body of alcohol dependence. The percentage of women over the age of 65 who die of an alcoholrelated disease has grown since the beginning of the 1990s. Among women aged 45–64, the percentage of those who die of alcohol abuse has remained the same, with perhaps a slight increase in recent years. Alcohol mortality among men is increasing in people over the age of 65 and declining across the entire 25–64 age range. The percentage of men and women The health consequences of alcohol and drug abuse Health in Sweden: The National Public Health Report 2012. Chapter 11.