During the course of a year the statistical Pole drinks around 8 litres of spirits. More high-alcohol content drinks are consumed in Holland, Italy, Germany, France, Ireland and Denmark. According to calculations of experts of the World Health Organisation, the outlays of European states for health care costs connected with drinking alcohol range from 2 to 5 percent of the Gross Domestic Product. The same statistics show that in Europe more than 10 percent of the cases of various ailments are connected with drinking alcohol. Most often these are illnesses of the blood circulation system, asthma, tuberculosis or liver insufficiency.
Alcoholics are also more susceptible to neoplasms and less resistant to viral infections.
It is estimated that from 40 to 60 percent of all deaths in Europe from bodily injuries are connected with the consumption of alcohol. The biggest social danger is the constantly rising consumption of alcohol by teenagers. As regards the kinds of drinks, both Polish teenagers and their counterparts from the countries of Western Europe prefer wine and beer, less often vodka. Young people from Malta, Denmark, Great Britain, Ireland, the Czech Republic and Ukraine consume the most vodka.