Lisbon, Feb. 26, 2025 (Lusa) - The age of onset of alcohol consumption among Portuguese young people worsened in 2023, as did situations of severe drunkenness, high-risk consumption and dependence, according to a report released on Wednesday.
The data is contained in the annual report on the country's situation in terms of drugs and drug addictions and alcohol for 2023, by the Institute for Addictive Behaviours and Dependencies (ICAD), which was presented today at parliament.
According to the document, which analyses data from 2022 and 2023, "there have been worsening trends in terms of the age of onset of consumption, the prevalence of recent and current consumption, severe drunkenness, high/non-risk consumption and dependence", which reinforces "the upward trend in dependence since 2012, which has almost quadrupled in ten years".
ICAD says that concerning alcohol, and despite an increase in abstinence compared to 2017, there were no improvements in most indicators.
The figures show that among 18-year-olds, there was "a drop in recent and current consumption in 2023" (they usually count data referring to the year and last consumption). However, the document emphasises that the figures for severe drunkenness in the last two years (2022 and 2023) were the highest since 2015.
The report also emphasised that the experience of problems related to alcohol consumption has seen "a significant increase" in the last three years compared to the pre-pandemic years, with a worsening in women.
According to the document, in the last two years, the number of people starting treatment for alcohol-related problems has reached the highest levels in the last decade.
In 2023, according to the data, there was a decrease in deaths from alcohol poisoning, fatalities in road accidents under the influence of this substance and hospital admissions with a primary diagnosis attributable to alcohol consumption, but an increase in the number of admissions with a secondary diagnosis of consumption.
Concerning the volume of sales of alcoholic beverages, the report notes that, after declines in 2020, there was a subsequent recovery, with the figures for 2022 and 2023 already exceeding pre-pandemic levels in almost all segments of alcoholic beverages.
Citing data from the Tax Authority, ICAD says that in 2023, around 612.5 million litres of beer, 42.0 million litres of other fermented drinks, 17.3 million intermediate products and 10.0 million litres of spirits were sold in mainland Portugal.
The annual report on the country's situation regarding drugs, drug addiction, and alcohol aims to provide information on the country's consumption situation and assess and monitor progress towards the goals set out in the National Plan for the Reduction of Addictive Behaviours and Dependencies 2021-2030, based on the logic of health in all policies.
ARA/ADB // ADB.
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