DNA Edit: Pour me another one – India’s alcohol intake and economic status are linked

Is there a connection between a country’s economic well being and the amount of alcohol its citizens consume? Apparently, there is. India’s alcohol intake has increased by a whopping 38 per cent between 2010 and 2017, from 4.3 to 5.9 litres per adult per year, says a study. Over the same timescale, liquor consumption went up slightly in the US, from 9.3 to 9.8 litres and China from 7.1 to 7.4. The findings by TU Dresden in Germany says that intake is growing in lower and middle-income countries while the total volume of alcohol consumed in high-income countries has remained the same. 

As a result of increased alcohol consumption and population growth, the total volume of liquor consumed globally has increased by 70 per cent. There is little doubt that India is now one of the fastest growing liquor markets in the world. In 2015, the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) calculated that India stood third in its list of 34-member countries where alcohol intake had shot up, ranking behind the Russian Federation and Estonia. A more recent NSSO survey has revealed that Andhra Pradesh is the biggest liquor consuming state in the country, followed by Kerala. While Kerala has an average consumption of 10.2 litres per person annually, Andhra tops with 34.5 litres, which works out to almost thrice the amount of hard spirits consumed annually by any other state. 

India’s case becomes starker when considered that three states, Bihar, Gujarat and Nagaland are dry, in addition to Union territory Lakshadweep and some districts of Manipur. But since liquor is a major revenue earner, most state governments are opposed to the idea of imposing prohibition. The consumption, naturally, keeps going up every year.