Australians spend more time drunk than any other nation apparently, so congrats to them.
According to the Global Drugs Survey of 32,000 people, Australians got drunk on average 27 times last year, almost double the global average of 15. It found they drank alcohol in line with the global average of two nights a week, and became heavily drunk about once every two weeks.
Meanwhile, almost a quarter of Australians reported feeling regret for becoming drunk, and they tripled the global average on seeking emergency care for their drinking.
The Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education chief executive, Caterina Giorgi, told the Guardian the statistics were “concerning” and linked to the pandemic.
“Australia tops the world in both the number of times people report getting drunk and in seeking emergency medical treatment for alcohol … Both of those indicators suggest people are drinking at fairly risky levels,” she said.
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“We’ve seen a steep increase, which has sustained for calls for help to drug and alcohol hotlines, and increased alcohol involvement with family violence callouts.
“There’s an emerging picture [that] there is a significant proportion of people who are drinking at riskier levels … to cope with stress and anxiety. Those habits are hard to undo as we continue to live in this covid environment.”
Aside from Australia, Danes and Finns spent the most time drinking to excess, tied at 23.8 times a year. Americans came in third place, getting drunk on average 23 times in 2020, followed by the British (22.5 times).
Canada came in next followed by Ireland, France, Sweden and the Netherlands.
Cheers to that.
