India shows second-highest rise in alcohol consumption

A study published by the medical journal The Lancet has found that the consumption of alcohol across several nations between 2010 and 2017 has shown both a large upward and downward trend, while the net consumption of alcohol is on an upward trend.

The total alcohol consumption in this time period went from 21 billion litres to 35.7 billion litres, a whopping 70 percent increase. The report also predicts per capita consumption of alcohol to increase to 7.6 litres by 2030.

The highest recorded increase was shown by Vietnam at 8.9 litres per capita, an 89 percent increase from 2010, and the highest recorded decrease was shown by Australia at 10.7 litres per capita, a 14.4 percent decrease.

India and Japan were among those that showed high increase at 5.9 litres per capita and 7.9 litres per capita, amounting to 37.2 and 11.3 percent increases respectively, while France and Germany were flat at 0.2 percent increases.

Among those who recorded reduced consumption over the period were Russia, which consumed 12.3 litres per capita, a 3.5 percent decrease and the UK with 11.4 litres per capita, a 7.3 percent decrease. Canada saw a large downtrend with 9.1 litres consumed per capita, nearly 11 percent down from 2010.

The report indicated that the prevalence of abstinence fell from 46 percent in 1990 to 43 percent in 2017 and forecast that the number could reduce to 40 percent by 2030 as the proportion of drinkers increases.