Alcohol per capita consumption in Latin America & the Caribbean 2019

In 2019, Barbados and Saint Lucia had the highest level of alcohol consumption in Latin America and the Caribbean among its population aged 15 years and older, with around 9.5 liters of pure alcohol per capita consumed yearly. Antigua and Barbuda was the third country with the highest per capita alcohol consumption in the region, with an estimated 8.5 liters of alcohol per person, followed by Grenada and Argentina.

Worldwide deaths related to alcohol use

Alcohol use beyond certain limits is commonly associated with chronic conditions such as liver disease, high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer, and mental health conditions. As of 2022, the estimated number of deaths due to alcohol use worldwide amounted to three million, representing around five percent of all deaths globally during that year. While Barbados and Saint Lucia led the ranking of alcohol consumption in Latin America in 2019, Czechia and Latvia were the countries that reported the highest consumption per capita of alcohol worldwide that same year, with an average of more than 13 liters per person annually.

Heavy episodic drinking in the region

According to a survey carried out in 2022, around 13 percent of respondents from selected nations indicated alcohol abuse was among the biggest health challenges faced by people in their countries. From a regional perspective, it was estimated that around one in every four women and four in every ten men experienced heavy episodic drinking during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, a decrease in comparison to 2019 figures and impacted by contention measures carried out during the beginning of the outbreak. Nine in ten of the people who did experience heavy episodic drinking did not seek any help.