Irish now drink below EU average alcohol consumption

bb1234567

I was interested to see that Irish people began drinking 15% less on average between 2018 and 2021. I'd imagine it dropped even further since tbh. Quite a spectacular drop, it's also below the EU average annual intake of 9.8litres of pure alcohol now. Although, this is still a fair bit to drink. 9.8 litres of pure alcohol is around 100 bottles of wine in alcohol content, nearly two a week. Not to mention the teetotalers bring down this average, so those who drink alcohol consume more than that figure by about 20%. Despite Irish people now drinking less than European peers I imagine it'll be a while yet before we shake the image of being the heaviest drinkers among west europeans.

https://www.drinkaware.ie/research/alcohol-consumption-in-ireland/#:~:text=In%20Ireland%2C%20the%20overall%20alcohol,is%209.8%20litres%20per%20adult.

I must say it was noticeable to me when I went back to Dublin this summer and at christmas. City centre nightlife lately is much more tame, you see very few people legless drunk like you would have often in town not too long ago. Pubs and bars are also just quieter in general. And stats indicate it's not just being replaced with home drinking.Are you noticing more people going dry of late?

Strumms

One thing that might be a catalyst to less drinking is the consumer being fed up of being ripped off by the drinks industry. Publicans and drinks manufacturers.

being charged 6.50 euros plus for a pint of liquid in some places …. No thanks…it’s just got too much

Guts of 40 euros for 6 drinks

30 euros for taxis

10-15 euros for some food..

A pretty basic night out, transport, food, drinks….. 85 euros each..

a lot of people because of covid and getting used to staying in are inviting people over, getting a takeaway… playing a bit of PS5, Spotify, watch Netflix and not get fleeced…

In Madrid you’ll get a pint or large beer still for about 3.50 in a nice bar. About 70% cheaper than here.

put_the_kettle_on

We've all but given up drinking. After being used to UK prices it feels prohibitively expensive here.

Padre_Pio

Same, COVID put me off the weekly ritual of heading to the pub. Same with my friends.

orourkeda1

I'm going to the pub to celebrate.

iamstop

There is also the fact that you can get a yoke for a tenner to keep you dancing 'til the wee hours. Younger people are drinking less than the generation before them, but some of them are substituting alcohol for other mind altering substances.

PommieBast

I'm guessing that there's quite a few lockdown-era Shebeens still going which might well skew the figures..

Wanderer78

....only to be overtaken by a rapid rise in the consumption of coke!

the.red.baron

How are they coming up with these numbers

ancapailldorcha

I've gone teetotal since Covid. Couldn't be happier. Alcohol is such a waste of money. In Ireland, pubs have had this coming for a long time given their racketeering.

osarusan

There's a good few caveats to those figures:

"However, revenue data do not account for home-brewed alcohol or alcohol consumed in Ireland that may have been bought outside the Republic of Ireland, including cross-border alcohol sales. Per capita consumption figures also do not account for alcohol consumed by Irish people while abroad and alcohol consumed by visitors to Ireland is not subtracted from Revenue figures. Per capita consumption figures may therefore be likely to be an underestimation of the true amount of alcohol consumed by Irish adults.  

Per capita consumption also includes those who abstain from alcohol, as this rate is based on all adults aged 15 years+ in Ireland. Therefore, when abstainers are excluded from survey data, alcohol consumption among those who have consumed alcohol in the past year is likely to increase. For instance, most recent figures available from 2016 for drinkers only per capita consumption in Ireland are 14.5 litres. "

I wouldn't agree that these caveats mean acutal consumption is likely to be under-represented. 10 million tourists a year visit ireland, and many of them sink many a pint while they're in the country, so thaose figures would need to be removed for a more accurate figure.

Count Dracula

It has become prohibitive and too expensive to enjoy.

2 litres of lager cost me 12 euro in an off licence

worse than communism.

JohnnyChimpo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120762900#Comment_120762900

some dealer you got there

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120760203#Comment_120760203

This is nonsense.

I worked nightclub security in 2003 and people were bemoaning the massive consumption of coke. 2013 when the recession was coming to an end people bemoaned the massive consumption of coke. 2023 when coming out of a pandemic people bemoaning the massive consumption of coke.

Coke has been a huge issue since the 80s and, in particular, the rampant celtic tiger years. It's not a new phenomenon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120760229#Comment_120760229

One would imagine the amount of alcohol sold in shops and pubs.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120762235#Comment_120762235

I worked in breweries and know many a home brewer, it's a rounding error in terms of national consumption.

Cross border sales are a thing but, outside of border counties would not be massive again, in the grand scheme of things.

Tourists are present in every country so every EU country presents their data too

PommieBast

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120762235#Comment_120762235

Looking at who compiled the "unrecorded" stats I would attach zero credibility to them. There is a distinct anti-alcohol feel that seems more political than health related.

policarp

Few extra factors,

No smoking and no driving makes going out

for a drink less appealing.

artanevilla

I think as you get older you realize that feeling like **** for a whole day after even moderate drinking is not worth it. I'd like to see a graph of alcohol consumption conversely with cocaine consumption here. I feel that one would sharply dip while the other sharply rises.

Beefcake82

Never drank much, but no drink at all for last 3 years due to health issues. Most friends gave up drinking due to costs of everything going up, having kids, mortgage etc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120773545#Comment_120773545

Again, coke was absolutely rampant in the noughties and 10 years ago.

It's not the substitute people are claiming it is

Strumms

A pint of liquid is actually fûck all.

pour a pint of water from a pint glass into a measuring jug and you appreciate it.

a nice tall ‘ tapered’ pint glass it looks big which is the desired effect. It’s not. 6/7 average sized mouthfuls generally..

Sierra Oscar

People are way more aware of the health impacts of alcohol. I'm not surprised.

bluedex

The zero alcohol fun police will be happy, in one way, but disappointed in another perverse way, as the stick they beat everyone with is crumbling.

Baasterd

"Irish" or people that live in Ireland?

I expect one of the reasons is that we now have more people living in the country that come from a culture that does not drink, although tbf maybe the Nigerians even that out.

murpho999

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120765837#Comment_120765837

Sorry not buying this, drink driving has been anti social since the 80s/90s and would not now turn people off going for a drink. As for smoking, ban in place 19 years, has become the norm and fewer people smoke now than ever before and it would not be the reason people go to the pub less.

Main reason is price and changing social habits with less people drinking, especially younger generation and more socialising in the home.

Quitelife

Ireland is falling in the Alcohol consumption table but heading to the top of the tables for taking drugs like Cocaine .

One time people in towns and villages in Ireland used go to their local pub and have a chat over a few pints with their neighbours , now they ring their local drug dealer and snort cocaine and try and figure out how they pay for their next deal before the drug dealers beat the crap out of them or burn their parents house down. Cocaine is making millionaires out of traveller gangs all over rural Ireland.

Scipri0

They brought this in for "health reasons" I wonder will they now remove the sugar tax for health reasons as the sugar in most soda drinks is now replaced with aspartame.

Exclusive: WHO's cancer research agency to say aspartame sweetener a possible carcinogen -sources

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/whos-cancer-research-agency-say-aspartame-sweetener-possible-carcinogen-sources-2023-06-29/

Potential-Monke

So they've changed the classification of aspartame from "not classifiable",the 4th category, to "Possibly carcinogenic", the 3rd category, behind "Probably carcinogenic" and "Carcinogenic". For clarity, "possibly" covers "this means there is either limited evidence they can cause cancer in humans, sufficient evidence in animals, or strong evidence about the characteristics." I'm assuming it's based on the last point, because there's no evidence to the first 2. Also "The levels are based on the strength of the evidence, rather than how dangerous a substance is."

It's now in the same category as the radiation from your mobile phone. So there we have it, aspartame causes just as much cancer as mobile phones. I feel grand though and I drink about 2 litres of the stuff every day for the last... 10ish years. On my mobile a lot more often though. Time to start creating my lawsuit against Coca-Cola and Samsung. And throw Three in there for providing me with the phone, and Dunnes/Tesco/et al for providing the discounted diet coke.

Good re the drinking though. People starting to realise there's life outside the glass and other things to do. It's a victim of our evolution as a country, up until the last few decades there was nothing to do here other than drink, hike, play sport or work. That's changing. Going for a few pints also used to be a reward imo, but because it can be done nearly anywhere at anytime, it has lost it's allure. Not to mention my body is delighted with me for it, albeit probably not a fan of the amount of diet coke I drink. Still think I'm the healthiest I've ever been though.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Drinking less has been a trend for a while now - the myth was dispelled comprehensively during the MUP debate.

I think, since we're a bit more health-aware in the last decade or two.

fits

Well I've developed a nice little unpredictable allergy to alcohol that sometimes has me rolling around the floor of my bathroom with stomach cramps after whatever it is that sets it off. Fine if I stick to one or two but just not worth it to have any more now.

Certainly pricing makes it less of a ritual type purchase, same with all “luxuries” these times. I developed progressive MS in recent times and if I take more than what is “good for me” I can end up having a very bad episode well before I “feel” particularly inebriated, very especially when I have overdone it in the energy stakes earlier in the day. With an already dysfunctional nervous system it can go very off kilter with added insults.

mockler007

Coke is the new gargle 😂

Gusser09

Erstwhile cocaine usage through the roof.

Well done MUP ****.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120793305#Comment_120793305

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120793318#Comment_120793318

Kinda dispels the "it's too expensive" excuse.

Strumms

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120793318#Comment_120793318

Coke is through the roof because the criminal justice system facilitate it by their abject uselessness.

when was the last time in anyones local or a nightclub did you see Gardai do an on spec visit, and to the bathrooms ?

too much hassle….

Cork dealer with a history made the paper when he was caught red handed dealing on a remote road….suspended sentence.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/courtandcrime/arid-41013545.html

all the judge was short of doing was coming down from the bench and giving the accused a gold watch and a handjob. Gardai similarly happy and enthusiastically empathetic…

must be the only country on the planet where you can be convicted of dealing class A drugs and instead of jail it’s praise and forgiveness and a free pass out the front door.

probably why cocaine is in such demand..

AerLingus747

everyones on the bag instead

Arthur Pants

Misleading thread title.

More than 20% of the population in Ireland are not Irish. We can't infer that the Irish now drink below EU average.

Potential-Monke

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120793403#Comment_120793403

If you're gonna pick an article/example, then picking one where a lad was selling weed to feed his own habit (ie: buying in bulk to save money and selling the extra), while at it for a year immediately admitted and gave up and has been drug free since, is not gonna do you any good. I think this was dealt with perfectly. I'm sure there could have been a better example. And your post is full of hyperbole.

Now, I assume you're strictly anti-cannabis, so this is why you think Irelands El Chapo got off light here. And then you end it with reference to a drug that has nothing to do with the article. You can do better, I feel your personal hatred of cannabis is shining through in this one. It's the ones with multiple convictions still walking free you should have referenced.

When I was a Garda, I used to walk the pubs/clubs if I was on the beat. It's hassle, drunk dopes think they can hang off you and try and take pictures. But I always did it. Not sure if it made any difference tbh. Then it got too busy for being able to have people on the beat, and it doesn't seem to have changed much. Probably why you don't see them at it these days. Although, I've no doubt the plain clothes drugs unit members are still at it. But because they're not high vis, you don't see it as often.

JupiterKid

It's a very welcome trend.

The younger generation don't seem to go out to get plastered every weekend and sometimes half the week like my age group did - and as a result less of them will fall into destructive alcoholism, as I did in 2009/2010 before getting sober in 2019.

Pub culture is dying on its feet and has been for years, health consciousness has been on the rise since the crash and there are so many interests and enjoyable things to do now for people other than drink.

kowloon

I'd love to know the avg. value of a regular coke user's coke purchase is compared to the avg. value of alcohol consumed by a drinker is. Is the drop in one proportional to the increase in the other in terms of overall cost or are they proportional in terms of number of consumers?

Are people substituting a bunch of pints with a little coke or are they massively increasing their overall spend?

How much tax are we losing out on?

irishguitarlad

A pint is a big volume of liquid and as my bladder is fucked I stick to half pints when I have a drink in Ireland(despite the sneers and homosexual insults). As someone who has lived in Spain for the last 8 years, I much prefer the attitude towards alcohol over here. I'm glad that alcohol consumption is dropping however I fear like other posters on here that it is just being replaced by cocaine.