Alcohol: are the Bretons the biggest consumers in France?

There Brittany is it the region where people drink the most alcohol in France ? For the purposes of a study, Public Health France was interested in the alcohol consumption the French. And no, the Bretons are not the biggest consumers contrary to popular belief.

Santé Publique France recently revealed the results of its study on alcohol consumption. “Alcohol consumption causes 41,000 deaths per year,” warns the government body. Excessive alcohol consumption can also cause short and long term health risks.

No, Brittany is not the region that consumes the most alcohol

While on a national scale, daily alcohol consumption concerns 8% of the population, the region Occitanie obtains the title of region with the highest alcohol consumption according to Santé Publique France. In this region, 11% of people surveyed say they drink alcohol daily.

According to the results of the study carried out by Santé Publique France, Brittany is not on the podium of French regions where the most alcohol is consumed. “In 2021, 7.9% of adults aged 18-75 reported consuming alcohol daily,” indicates the government organization.

This share of daily alcohol consumers has been falling steadily since 2005. This proportion is very similar to that of the national level.

Nearly 15,000 trips to the emergency room due to alcohol

According to data communicated by Santé Publique France, men and people aged between 61 and 75 with a low or high income level are most affected by daily alcohol consumption.

During the year 2023, 14,400 visits to the emergency room have a link with alcohol. A figure slightly decreasing compared to 2017 when 15,100 passages were recorded. “The departments with a higher rate of visits to emergencies directly linked to alcohol were Côtes-d’Armor, Morbihan and Ille-et-Vilaine for both sexes,” reports Santé Publique France.

In 2023, the rate of visits to emergency rooms directly linked to alcohol was higher among men (2.4%) than among women (1.0%) and it was higher among 46-60 year olds ( 4.0%) and 31-45 year olds (3.6%). Acute alcoholic intoxication was the most represented among the different pathologies that could be identified as directly linked to alcohol.

What about occasional heavy drinking?

Nearly 22% (21.6%) of Bretons questioned as part of the survey carried out by Santé Publique France declared having occasional significant monthly alcohol consumption. “This share has not changed since 2017 and is higher than at the national level (16.5%). If women are less affected than men, this indicator is experiencing an unfavorable trend unlike their male counterparts,” it is specified.

In 2021, 26.9% of adults aged 18 to 75 reported exceeding consumption benchmarks, more than at the national level. These excesses affect men more, decrease with age with young people more affected than older people, and increase with income level.

If the 18-30 year old age group is the most affected by occasional heavy drinking (39.9%), the 31-45 year old age group is not spared (28.6%).

Alcohol abuse is dangerous for your health, consume in moderation.

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