Juliette Gagliardi
Junior Researcher
Alcohol consumption and health in Italy - Statistics & Facts
Alcohol use is associated with short- and long-term health risks as well as death, due to its toxic, psychoactive and addictive properties. Nevertheless, the consumption of alcoholic beverages is accepted and often encouraged in certain social situations. Indeed, worldwide consumption of alcoholic beverages is high and is estimated to grow over the coming years.
Each country has a unique drinking culture and in Italy the consumption of alcohol usually revolves around food. In 2021 Italy recorded the third-highest per capita wine consumption in the world. Overall alcohol consumption in Italy has been slowly increasing each year since 2014, and in 2029 will probably amount to over eight liters of pure alcohol per capita. The share of alcohol consumers among males is roughly 77 percent, while about 56 percent of females over 11 years of age consume alcohol. Excessive alcohol consumption among males in Italy has been in decline over the last decade, however the ratio among males is consistently more than double that of females who drink excessively.
Each country has a unique drinking culture and in Italy the consumption of alcohol usually revolves around food. In 2021 Italy recorded the third-highest per capita wine consumption in the world. Overall alcohol consumption in Italy has been slowly increasing each year since 2014, and in 2029 will probably amount to over eight liters of pure alcohol per capita. The share of alcohol consumers among males is roughly 77 percent, while about 56 percent of females over 11 years of age consume alcohol. Excessive alcohol consumption among males in Italy has been in decline over the last decade, however the ratio among males is consistently more than double that of females who drink excessively.
Binge drinking trends
One pattern of excessive drinking is binge drinking, which is the most harmful pattern of alcohol use and carries serious health risks. Binge drinking is commonly defined as five or more drinks in a two-hour period for men and four or more drinks in a two-hour period for women. In 2021 rates of binge drinking among young individuals were the highest for males aged 18 or 19 years, and for females belonging to the age group 18-19 and 20-24. From 2005 to 2021, the share of females who binge drank grew, reaching 3.6 percent in 2021, while this tendency decreased for male consumers. In 2021 the regions with the highest incidence of female consumers who binge drank were all located in the north of Italy.Treatment and expenses related to alcohol abuse
In 2021, emergency department visits among males with an alcohol-related diagnosis were more frequent for individuals within the age group 18-24 years. The same tendency was observed among females. Since 2012 the number of individuals participating in alcohol abuse treatment programs in rehabilitation centers fluctuated between 64.5 to 72.8 thousand people. However, the overall cost sustained by the Italian National Healthcare Service (NHS) for drugs used to treat alcohol addiction decreased from 2016 to 2021, from 13.6 to 8.1 euros spent every year per 100 inhabitants. Harmful use of alcohol doesn’t lead just to expenses and lower quality of life but also to death: the most common alcohol-related death in Italy is due to alcohol-related liver disease.
