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Alcohol's Effects on Health

Research-based information on drinking and its impact.

Global Burden

Updated: May 2023

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Image of a globe. Global health burden of alcohol. Globally, alcohol misuse was the seventh-leading risk factor for premature death and disability in 2016. Source: GBD 2016 Alcohol Collaborators
  • Globally, alcohol misuse was the seventh-leading risk factor for premature death and disability in 2016.1
  • In 2016, alcohol misuse was the leading risk factor for death and disability among people ages 15 to 49.1
  • In 2016, approximately 14.0% of total deaths among people ages 20 to 39 were alcohol attributable.2
  • In 2016, of all deaths attributable to alcohol consumption worldwide, 28.7% were due to injuries, 21.3% were due to digestive diseases (primarily cirrhosis of the liver and pancreatitis), 19.0% were due to cardiovascular diseases, 12.9% were due to infectious diseases (including tuberculosis, pneumonia, and HIV/AIDS), and 12.6% were due to cancers (most prominently those of the upper aerodigestive tract).2
  • In 2016, 5.1% of the burden of disease and injury worldwide (132.6 million disability-adjusted life years) was attributable to alcohol consumption.3
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    Alcohol contributes to more than 200 diseases and injury-related health conditions. Source: WHO, 2018
  • In 2018, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that alcohol contributed to more than 200 diseases and injury-related health conditions, including liver diseases, road injuries, violence, cancers, cardiovascular diseases, suicides, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS.3
  • In 2019, alcohol use was the leading risk factor for attributable burden of disease among people ages 25 to 49, the second-leading risk factor among ages 10 to 24, and the ninth-leading risk factor among all ages.4
  • In 2019, alcohol use accounted for 2.07 million deaths of males and 374,000 deaths of females, globally.4

References

  1. GBD 2016 Alcohol Collaborators. Alcohol use and burden for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2016: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016. Lancet. 2018;392(10152):1015-35. PubMed PMID: 30146330
  2. WHO. Global status report on alcohol and health 2018. Geneva, Switzerland: WHO Press; 2018 [cited 2022 Apr 27], p. xv. Available from: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241565639
  3. WHO. Global status report on alcohol and health 2018. Geneva, Switzerland: WHO Press; 2018 [cited 2022 Apr 27], p. vii. Available from: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241565639
  4. GBD 2019 Risk Factors Collaborators. Global burden of 87 risk factors in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. Lancet. 2020;396(10258):1223-49. PubMed PMID: 33069327
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