Over 2,700 alcohol-related deaths in Catalonia

Alcohol is the most widely consumed psychoactive substance in Catalonia. And according to figures made public by health authorities on Monday, it was responsible for 2,706 deaths in 2019, 4.23% of all deaths in Catalonia that year.

This affects more than twice as many men than women, although among adolescents, girls are more likely to require medical assistance than boys. 

Higher than European average

That same year, people over the age of 15 drank an average of 11 liters of pure alcohol: 16l for men and 6l for women.

This places alcohol consumption in Catalonia above the European average of 9.5l per person per year.

Another 2019-2020 survey found that 8.9% of 15- to 64-year-olds in Catalonia drank alcohol every day - 14.6% of men and 3% of women - while only 7.5% had never consumed alcohol. 

More excessive drinking

A recent study in Barcelona also found that excessive drinking had grown in the Catalan capital. While in 2016 only 4.2% of women and 9% of men engaged in this behavior, in 2021 7.9% and 14.1% did respectively.

And as is the case in Catalonia, in Barcelona around half of all people who entered addiction treatment programs did so for alcohol.