According to a new global survey, Australians are the world’s drunkest population, which is…not great!
The data comes from the Global Drug Survey, a UK-based org who surveyed 32,000 people in 22 countries about their drug habits.
Perhaps unsurprisingly for anyone who lives here, or who’s consumed more than five minutes of Australian media, it found that Aussies top the charts for the number of times we get drunk in a year.
Our average was just below 27, while the global average was just below 15. Essentially, Australians are getting drunk twice as often than the global average, which brings me serious concerns about the states of our livers.
We did average slightly less than in 2020 though, when we were clocking in at an average of 32 drunken evenings (or arvos) a year. In 2020, the Brits topped the list, reporting a drunkenness-average of 34 times a year.
Australia was also tied with Finland for highest rates of people seeking emergency medical treatment as a result of drinking alcohol – the most concerning gold medal of all time. 3.9 per cent of Aussie respondents said they’d sought emergency care after drinking over the last 12 months.
Again, this was pretty significantly higher than the global average of 1.2 per cent.
It’s undeniable that Australian culture has an intense and probably unhealthy relationship with alcohol. These stats are maybe a sign that as a nation, it’d definitely be a good idea to swap out the Bloody Mary for a mocktail on occasion.
Interestingly though, Australia wasn’t number one in terms frequency of drinking – just in terms of drunkenness.
It was le French who drank the most often, clocking in at 132 days per year on average. In contrast, Aussies drank 106 times per year, only five days more than the global average.
I’m no scientist, but the results seem to suggest that Aussies are more likely to go on a big bender, rather than drinking less but more frequently.
Australians also weren’t the most regret-filled drinkers which is nice, I guess.
The Irish regretted drinking the most at 28.4 per cent, while 24.4 per cent Aussies reported regretting drinking. Ah yes, hangxiety, my old foe.
Again, we did clock in at higher than the global average of 21.3 per cent
Anyway, after a year of drinking over Zoom quizzes, drinking out of boredom with your house mates and drinking in pubs for post-lockdown celebrations, these stats are maybe a sign to get off the beers and experiment with a non-alc tinnie or vino on your next picnic or work Chrissy do.
