SLOVAKS are among the most avid alcohol drinkers in Europe. Each local over 15 years of age drinks 13 litres of pure alcohol a year on average, while the global average is 6.2 litres. This stems from a recent World Health Organisation (WHO) report.
However, only 38.3 percent of the global population drinks alcohol, which means that in effect, those who do, consume 17 litres of pure alcohol a year. In Slovakia, this average number is 19.8, while it is 28.8 litres for men aged 15 and over, and only 10 litres for women over 15.
Most alcohol is consumed in Europe, where the total annual average is 10.9 litres of pure alcohol per capita. The biggest numbers were recorded in Belarus (17.5), Moldova (16.8), Lithuania (15.4) and Russia (15.1). Czechs drink, just like Slovaks, 13 litres a year. In total, alcohol consumption in Europe, Africa and North and South America has not changed in the last five years, unlike south-east Asia and some countries of the western Pacific, where it continues to grow.
The study, reported on by the SITA newswire, found that alcohol consumption caused millions of deaths annually, as well as more than 200 various illnesses, including cancer, tuberculosis, pneumonia and liver cirrhosis. More deaths connected to alcohol were discovered in men (7.6 percent of all deaths) than in women (4 percent), but women are more prone to some health issues stemming from alcohol than men.
