Key facts:

• Alcohol or alcoholic beverages contain ethanol, a psychoactive and toxic substance that can cause dependence.
• Worldwide, around 2.6 million deaths were caused by alcohol consumption in 2019. Of these, 1.6 million deaths were from noncommunicable diseases, 700 000 deaths from injuries and 300 000 deaths from communicable diseases.
• The alcohol-attributable mortality was heaviest among men, accounting for 2 million deaths compared to 600 000 deaths among women, in 2019.
• An estimated 400 million people, or 7% of the world’s population aged 15 years and older, lived with alcohol use disorders. Of this, 209 million people (3.7% of the adult world population) lived with alcohol dependence.
• Alcohol consumption, even at low levels can bring health risks, but most alcohol related harms come from heavy episodic or heavy continuous alcohol consumption.
• Effective alcohol control interventions exist and should be utilized more, at the same time it is important for people to know risks associated with alcohol consumption and take individual actions to protect from its harmful effects.