An international study puts Switzerland above the average when it comes to alcohol intake, although during the pandemic, drinkers seem to have slowed down.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA/dos
Português
pt
Consumo de álcool na Suíça é mais alto que a média da OCDE
The report published on Wednesday by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) puts the average Swiss intake at 11.5 litres of pure alcohol per resident per year.
This amount, just above the OECD average, corresponds to 2.5 bottles of wine or 4.4 litres of beer weekly for those aged 15 or above.
Some 4.3% of Swiss adults are “dependent” on alcohol, the report writes. The country also has one of the lowest percentages of “abstainers”, at around 20%.
Harmful measures
According to the OECD, across all the (mainly developed and European) countries involved, one in three adults has engaged in binge drinking at least once in the previous month, while one in five youths have been drunk by the age of 15.
The Czech Republic drinks the most of all countries surveyed, followed by Lithuania, Luxembourg, Germany, and Ireland. Across the board, men drank more than women – usually around double.
More
More
Binge drinking increases among Swiss youngsters
This content was published on
Overall alcohol consumption is stable but the share of people who got drunk at least once a month has increased over the past decade.
The report says that alcohol consumed to a dangerous degree can reduce life expectancy, increase healthcare costs, decrease productivity, and ultimately lower a country’s GDP.
It defines “harmful” consumption as more than one glass of alcohol daily for women, and more than 1.5 glasses (just under a pint of lower-strength beer, for example) for men.
Pandemic party
While the long-term effect of the pandemic on alcohol consumption is still difficult to gauge, the short-term effects varied widely from country to country, the OECD writes, with some upping their intake and some lowering it.
They mark out Switzerland as one example where, in the first wave at least, a marked decrease in alcohol consumption was observed, although they didn’t go further in explaining exactly why this was the case.
Switzerland was also singled out as the country with the lowest rate of VAT imposed on alcohol, at 7.7%.
University students in Switzerland join Gaza protest wave
This content was published on
Pro-Palestinian activists occupied university buildings in Lausanne, Geneva and Zurich on Tuesday, widening the protest movement in the Alpine nation.
TradeXBank to resume full operations after Sberbank Switzerland taken off sanctions list
This content was published on
TradeXBank, the former Swiss branch of Russia’s Sberbank, will be able to resume its dollar-denominated activities from the second half of this year.
Geneva decides not to remove controversial memorials
This content was published on
The city of Geneva has presented an action plan regarding a series of controversial local statues and monuments of historical figures linked to racism, colonialism or slavery.
University of Lausanne calls for end to pro-Palestine sit-in
This content was published on
The pro-Palestinian occupation continues at the University of Lausanne (UNIL). On Monday evening, a group of students refused to agree to the deadline set by the rectorate.
Ukraine peace conference should include Russia, says Chinese ambassador
This content was published on
China supports a peace conference on the Ukraine war that would see equal participation of all parties, says Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui.
This content was published on
A majority of Swiss citizens have open attitudes towards various infertility treatments, including even egg donation, which is currently prohibited.
Reports of Swiss cyber fraud almost doubled in six months
This content was published on
The head of the new Federal Office for Cybersecurity (FOC), Florian Schütz, has presented a new strategy after just over four months in office.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.