Outcome progress
Has the situation improved in the real world?
LowThe alcohol death rate fell by 20.2% between 2010 and 2019, but consumption per person barely changed and alcohol still caused 2.6 million deaths, 4.7% of all deaths, in 2019.
Less Harm from Alcohol
Alcohol caused an estimated 2.6 million deaths in 2019, 4.7% of all deaths worldwide; the death rate is falling, but consumption has barely changed, alcohol is becoming more affordable in most countries, and very few people with alcohol use disorders get treatment.
Updated October 15, 2026. Written from the sources listed below, not independently peer-reviewed.
Take a guess first
In 2019, out of every 100 people aged 15 and older worldwide, how many abstained from drinking alcohol?
2.6 million
Deaths caused by alcohol each year
4.7% of all deaths worldwide in 2019. WHO modelled estimate; 2 million of the deaths were among men.
Data year 2019. Source: World Health Organization, 2024
400 million
People living with alcohol use disorders
7% of the world's population aged 15 and older, including 209 million people with alcohol dependence.
Data year 2019. Source: World Health Organization, 2024
5.5 litres
Alcohol consumed per person aged 15 and older
Litres of pure alcohol per year, including unrecorded alcohol. Down only slightly from 5.7 litres in 2010, a relative reduction of 4.5%.
Data year 2019. Source: World Health Organization, 2024
The numbers
Unit: litres of pure alcohol per year
World totals calculated by the World Bank from WHO's modelled country estimates, which the World Bank labels as projected estimates; WHO's own global figure for 2019 is 5.5 litres. The fall in 2020 coincides with the COVID-19 pandemic; WHO estimates a 10% relative fall from 2019 to 2020.
The consumption target for 2030 is out of reach
SDG target 3.5 calls for stronger prevention and treatment of substance use, including harmful use of alcohol. Between 2010 and 2019, consumption per person fell by only 4.5% in relative terms, and WHO concludes that the global target for reducing alcohol consumption will not be met by 2030. The death rate from alcohol did fall by 20.2% over the same period, but treatment coverage remains very low and only 56% of reporting countries had a national alcohol policy in 2019.
Who is affected most
Men account for about 2 million of the 2.6 million alcohol deaths. Alcohol caused 6.7% of all deaths among men and 2.4% among women in 2019.
Source: World Health Organization, 2024The highest alcohol death rates are in the WHO European Region, with 52.9 deaths per 100,000 people, and the African Region, with 52.2 per 100,000.
Source: World Health Organization, 2024Young adults are hit hardest relative to other causes: 13% of all deaths among people aged 20 to 39 in 2019 were attributable to alcohol, the highest share of any age group.
Source: World Health Organization, 2024Almost a quarter (23.5%) of all 15- to 19-year-olds worldwide are current drinkers, rising to 45.9% in the European Region and 43.9% in the Americas.
Source: World Health Organization, 2024
Where it hits hardest
Each country is shaded by its latest available value, so you can see where the gap is widest. Hover or tap a country, search for one, or open the full table.
Alcohol consumed per person aged 15 and older
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Values in litres per year.
Litres of pure alcohol per person aged 15 and older, including WHO's estimate of unrecorded alcohol, showing the latest year available per country (2020 for almost all, 2019 for a few). 2020 was a pandemic year and the values are modelled projections, so they may understate usual levels; a national average also hides how drinking is spread across the population.
Source: WHO Global Health Observatory, via World Bank Open Data. Latest year available per country; years differ.
Values load from World Bank Open Data. Simplified Natural Earth borders; they imply no position on disputed territories.
Are we making progress?
Instead of one “percent solved” score, DO GOOD rates three separate dimensions. A problem can have mature solutions that still reach too few people. These ratings are an editorial reading of the sources on this page, not a measured index.
Solution maturity
How mature and validated are the available solutions?
HighWHO's SAFER package bundles five well-tested measures, including higher taxes, limits on availability and marketing, drink-driving countermeasures and access to brief interventions and treatment, which WHO describes as effective and cost-effective.
Implementation reach
How widely are effective solutions actually used?
LowAlcohol has become more affordable or stayed the same in price in most countries since 2022, wine is untaxed in at least 25 countries, and few countries adjust alcohol taxes for inflation.
Confidence in the data
ModerateGlobal estimates rest on country reports and modelling, the latest detailed figures are for 2019, and about a fifth of consumption is unrecorded and must be estimated.
Current trajectory
StallingConsumption per person fell only 4.5% from 2010 to 2019 even as the death rate declined, and WHO expects the 2030 consumption target to be missed.
Why this matters
Alcohol plays a causal role in more than 200 diseases, injuries and other health conditions. WHO estimates that it caused 2.6 million deaths in 2019, or 4.7% of all deaths worldwide. Most of these deaths, 1.6 million, were from noncommunicable diseases such as heart disease and cancer, about 724,000 were from injuries including road crashes, self-harm and violence, and 284,000 were linked to communicable diseases. Alcohol harms not only people who drink: of the 298,000 road deaths attributed to alcohol in 2019, 156,000 were caused by someone else's drinking.
Most adults in the world do not drink, but those who do drink an average of 27 grams of pure alcohol a day, roughly two glasses of wine, and 38% of them had at least one heavy drinking occasion in the previous month. An estimated 400 million people live with alcohol use disorders, including 209 million with alcohol dependence, yet in countries with data the share in contact with treatment ranges from less than 1% to no more than 14%. Men account for 2 million of the 2.6 million deaths, the European and African regions have the highest death rates, and young adults aged 20 to 39 lose the largest share of their deaths to alcohol.
How alcohol harm is measured
WHO tracks progress toward SDG target 3.5 with national data reported by its Member States, combined with statistical models. Its latest global report, published in 2024, drew on a survey answered by 154 of 194 Member States and gives estimates for 2019. The main measures are:
Total alcohol consumption per person
The official SDG indicator: litres of pure alcohol consumed per person aged 15 and older in a year. It adds recorded sales and production to estimates of unrecorded alcohol, such as home-made or smuggled drinks, and adjusts for tourists. Unrecorded alcohol makes up about 21% of the world total, so it has a large effect on the estimates.
Deaths and illness caused by alcohol
WHO models how much of each disease and injury can be attributed to alcohol. Alcohol plays a role in more than 200 conditions, but WHO can only quantify the burden for 31 of them.
Heavy episodic drinking
The share of people who drank at least 60 grams of pure alcohol on one or more occasions in the past month.
Treatment coverage and service capacity
SDG target 3.5 also covers treatment. WHO measures the share of people with alcohol or drug use disorders who are in contact with treatment services, and in 2024 proposed a new service capacity index for substance use disorders to compare how well health systems can respond.
What already works, and its limits
Higher alcohol taxes and prices
What works
Raising prices through excise taxes is one of the most effective and cost-effective ways to reduce harmful drinking, and it also raises public revenue. At least 167 countries tax alcohol.
Limits
Taxes are often low and rarely adjusted for inflation: median excise shares are 14% for beer and 22.5% for spirits, wine is untaxed in at least 25 countries, and alcohol has become more affordable or stayed the same in most countries since 2022.
Limits on availability
What works
Laws, policies and programmes that limit commercial and public access to alcohol protect young people and other groups at higher risk.
Limits
Rules only work if they are enforced, and they do not reach unrecorded alcohol, which makes up about 21% of all alcohol consumed worldwide.
Drink-driving countermeasures
What works
Strong drink-driving laws with low blood alcohol limits, sobriety checkpoints and random breath testing target the much higher crash risk of impaired drivers. They protect other road users too: in 2019, 156,000 of the 298,000 alcohol-related road deaths were caused by someone else's drinking.
Limits
Twenty-seven countries, mostly in the African Region and the Americas, still set legal limits above 0.05%, and enforcement varies widely.
Screening, brief advice and treatment
What works
Health workers can ask about drinking during routine care, give short advice to people at risk and refer those who need it to treatment, which also supports their families.
Limits
In countries with data, between less than 1% and no more than 14% of people with alcohol use disorders are in contact with treatment, and only 46% of countries have laws protecting the confidentiality of people in treatment.
Restrictions on marketing
What works
Bans or comprehensive restrictions on alcohol advertising, sponsorship and promotion protect children, adolescents and people who do not drink from pressure to start or drink more.
Limits
Advertising on the internet and social media remains largely unregulated in most countries.
Innovations to watch
Promising, but not proven at scale. The stage shows how far each approach has come; it is not a recommendation.
Early deployment
Coordinated push for health taxes
WHO's "3 by 35" initiative asks countries to raise and redesign taxes so that the real prices of tobacco, alcohol and sugary drinks rise by 2035. Its success depends on governments passing such taxes and keeping them in line with inflation, which few countries do today.
Pilots
Measuring treatment capacity
WHO's 2024 report proposed a service capacity index for substance use disorders as a new monitoring tool. First results show capacity varying more than 20-fold between countries, from 0.01 to 0.8 on the index. It is proposed as a complement to treatment coverage and is not yet routinely reported.
Early deployment
Rules for digital alcohol marketing
WHO's SAFER package now explicitly covers limits on alcohol marketing in digital media. Because most online alcohol advertising is still unregulated and platforms operate across borders, how such limits can be enforced across global platforms is still an open question.
What is holding progress back
- Implementation gap:
- Solutions work but reach too few people. Needs infrastructure, funding and organisation.
- Coordination gap:
- Actors are not aligned. Needs standards, partnerships and better incentives.
- Knowledge gap:
- Cause or mechanism not understood. Needs basic research.
Implementation gap
Alcohol is getting cheaper
In most countries alcohol has become more affordable or stayed the same in price since 2022, because taxes do not keep pace with inflation and income growth.
Implementation gap
A very large treatment gap
Of the 400 million people living with alcohol use disorders, only a small fraction get care: in countries with data, at most 14% are in contact with treatment, and only about 54% of 145 reporting countries have national standards for specialised treatment services.
Coordination gap
No dedicated funding for treatment
Most of the 145 countries that reported data have no specific budget line for substance use treatment, and almost half offer no mutual help or peer support groups.
Coordination gap
Unregulated online marketing
Alcohol advertising on the internet and social media remains largely unregulated, even though the SAFER package calls for marketing limits that also cover digital media.
Implementation gap
Weak drink-driving laws in some countries
Twenty-seven countries still allow blood alcohol levels above 0.05% for drivers, even though impaired drivers face a much higher risk of crashing.
Knowledge gap
Outdated and incomplete data
The most recent detailed global estimates are for 2019, and about 21% of alcohol consumed is unrecorded and has to be estimated.
Questions nobody has answered yet
Unresolved questions, not vetted breakthroughs. Answering any of them would change what is possible.
Measuring unrecorded alcohol
How can home-made, informal and smuggled alcohol be measured more reliably, and which policies reduce harm from it without pushing more people toward unregulated drinks when taxes rise?
Lasting effects of the pandemic
Consumption fell sharply in 2020. Did drinking patterns return to earlier levels, shift toward drinking at home, or change in some groups for good, and what does that mean for future harm?
Treatment where specialists are scarce
Which combinations of brief advice in primary care, peer support and digital tools help the most people with alcohol use disorders in countries with few specialised services?
Regulating marketing across borders
How can countries limit alcohol marketing on global social media platforms and streaming services, and how can the effect of such rules on young people be measured?
What you can do
Never drive after drinking
Plan a ride home, a designated driver or public transport before you go out, and help friends do the same.
Ask for advice early
If you are concerned about your own drinking or someone else's, a doctor, nurse or helpline can offer a short conversation and, if needed, a referral to treatment or support groups.
Support people without judgement
Speak with respect about people with alcohol use disorders and make it easy for them to seek help, for example by offering alcohol-free options at gatherings.
Back evidence-based policies
Support alcohol tax increases, drink-driving enforcement and limits on marketing to children when your community or government debates them.
Ideas from the community
Ideas visitors sent in for this challenge, read by the DO GOOD team and pinned with permission. The colour shows the kind of contribution.
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Connected challenges
- Safe Roads for EveryoneAlcohol caused an estimated 298,000 road deaths in 2019, more than half of them through someone else's drinking.
- Surviving Cancer Wherever You LiveWHO attributes 4.4% of cancers diagnosed worldwide and 401,000 cancer deaths in 2019 to alcohol.
- Healthy HeartsAlcohol was responsible for an estimated 474,000 deaths from cardiovascular diseases in 2019.
- Mental Health Care for EveryoneAbout 400 million people live with alcohol use disorders, and self-harm is among the injuries WHO attributes to alcohol.
- A Tobacco-Free GenerationWHO's health-tax initiative targets tobacco and alcohol together, asking countries to raise the real prices of both through taxes by 2035.
Get involved with DO GOOD
This page is a research overview. DO GOOD does not run a dedicated programme on this challenge, and donations are not earmarked for it. You can join our volunteer work and outreach.
Sources
- [1]Alcohol – fact sheet
World Health Organization (28 June 2024), published 2024
WHO's current summary, based on the 2024 global status report. Source of deaths by cause, sex and region, road deaths caused by others' drinking, cancer and cardiovascular deaths, people with alcohol use disorders and dependence, treatment contact rates, treatment standards and confidentiality laws.
- [2]Over 3 million annual deaths due to alcohol and drug use, majority among men
World Health Organization (news release, 25 June 2024), published 2024
Launch of the 2024 global status report. Source of the 4.7% share of all deaths, deaths by cause, the share of deaths among people aged 20 to 39, drinking among 15- to 19-year-olds, average daily intake per drinker, the definition of heavy episodic drinking, and treatment funding and peer support gaps.
- [3]Global status report on alcohol and health and treatment of substance use disorders
World Health Organization (25 June 2024), published 2024
WHO's latest global report on SDG target 3.5, with estimates for 2019. Source of consumption per person in 2010 and 2019, the share of abstainers, unrecorded alcohol, the 20.2% fall in the death rate, national alcohol policies, drink-driving limits, digital marketing, the service capacity index and WHO's conclusion that the 2030 consumption target will not be met.
- [4]Cheaper drinks will see a rise in noncommunicable diseases and injuries
World Health Organization (news release, 13 January 2026), published 2026
Launch of the WHO Global report on the use of alcohol taxes, 2025 (https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240118928). Source of the number of countries taxing or banning alcohol, untaxed wine, median excise shares, rising affordability since 2022 and the "3 by 35" initiative.
- [5]The SAFER initiative
World Health Organization (initiative page, accessed October 2026), published 2026
Description of the five SAFER measures launched by WHO and partners in 2018, including the coverage of digital media under marketing restrictions and the description of taxes and pricing as among the most effective and cost-effective measures.
- [6]Total alcohol consumption per capita (liters of pure alcohol, projected estimates, 15+ years of age), World
World Bank Open Data, from the WHO Global Health Observatory (updated 13 July 2026), published 2026
World aggregate of WHO's country estimates of total alcohol consumption, 2000–2020. Source of the trend chart; the same indicator powers the world map.