Latin America: frequency of illicit alcoholic beverages consumption 2019-2020

According to a survey carried out in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2020, nearly 92 percent of alcohol consumers interviewed stated that they did not drink illicit or informal alcoholic beverages during the first four months of the COVID-19 pandemic (March to June 2020). This figure was higher than the 85.8 percent in 2019. While a higher share of respondents stated not consuming these kinds of drinks during the period analized in 2020 when compared to the previous year, also a higher share stated consuming illegal or informal alcoholic beverages in a weekly or monthly basis. This could be partly explained by some governments forbidding sales of certain alcoholic products in an effort to limit the spread of the disease.