OECD’s new flagship report examines the economic and public health dimensio​ns of harmful alcohol use, today the fifth leading cause of death and disability worldwide.

Despite a slight decline, on average, in the past 20 years, alcohol consumption in OECD countries remains well above the world average. Heavy drinking is alarmingly on the rise among young people and women in many countries. An increasing proportion of children experience alcohol and drunkenness at early ages. Girls have caught up with boys in the past ten years. Heavy drinking is associated with a weaker probability of employment, more absence from work, as well as lower productivity and wages. The overall value of production lost to harmful alcohol use is estimated in the region of 1% of GDP in high- and middle-income countries. This report provides a detailed examination of trends and social disparities in alcohol consumption in OECD countries and beyond. It offers a wide-ranging assessment of the health, social and economic impacts of key policies for tackling alcohol-related harms in Canada, the Czech Republic and Germany, extracting relevant policy messages for a broader set of countries. Read more »​