Brussels, 22/04/2010 (Agence Europe) - According to a Eurobarometer report on the behaviour of Europeans towards alcohol, published on Wednesday 21 April 2010, consumption of beers, wines, spirits, ciders and other alcoholic drinks has remained at a level similar to that of four years ago. 88% of the 27,000 people surveyed in October 2009 had consumed alcohol at least once in the previous 12 months, compared with 87% in 2006. Among these Europeans, 81% had consumed alcohol in the previous 30 days.
Almost three people out of four (72%) said they had drunk alcohol at least once per week in the previous 30 days and 14% said they had drunk daily (though this rises to 43% in Portugal over the previous 12 months). A quarter of 55 year-olds and older consumed alcohol every day, compared with 3% of 15-24 year-olds.
Over two thirds (69%) of consumers say they drink two glasses or fewer each time, but 10% drink five glasses or more (a quarter among the 15-25 year-olds). It is the Italians who drink the least when they do drink, 93% taking at most two glasses, while 12% of Britons consume at least seven glasses when they drink. Over the previous 12 months, 29% of respondents had drunk more than five glasses in a week at least once, with 44% of Irish people binge drinkers, compared with 39% of Romanians and only 11% in Latvia. 44% of women and 26% of men say that they had not drunk more than five glasses in one sitting over the course of the previous year.
Europeans are aware of the risks of alcohol. 97% know that drinking to excess can cause liver damage and two thirds (67%) that it can cause cancer. Virtually all those surveyed think that consumption of alcohol can lead to urban violance (96%), marital problems, loss of productivity at work and under-performance at school (94%).
To tackle alcohol abuse, almost one in two (42%)would like to se public authorities take steps to protect individuals, though 53% believe that individuals are responsible enough to protect themselves from alcohol-related harm. 89% support a ban on selling or serving alcoholic drinks to under-18s. Moreover, 83% think that there should be random police checks, and 73% support lowered legally punishable blood-alcohol levels for young and inexperienced drivers across the EU.
Drivers, however, continue to downplay the risks of drink driving. The majority believe it is dangerous to drive under the influence of alcohol, but 14% admit that they would drive after drinking two or more glasses, an amount that would put them over the limit permitted in most European countries (0.5 grammes per litre of blood), while 15% say that is better not to drink and drive. Only 27% of European citizens can correctly say what is the maximum permitted level of alcohol in the blood for drivers (between zero and 0.8 grammes, depending on the member state).
Europe has the highest level of consumption of alcohol per inhabitant in the world, and every year, alcohol causes 195,000 deaths. In 2006, the European Commission launched the first European strategy to combat the adverse effects of alcohol. (C-C.G./transl.rt)