Per capita alcohol use in Ireland in 2023 was 9.9 litres of pure alcohol per person aged 15 years and over, a 2.9% decrease from 2022 (based on 2022 population estimates) (HRB 2024). Overall per capita consumption is crucial to assess long-term trends and provide comparative levels of alcohol consumption in a country. However, to quote the Health Research Board (2021) “surveys of alcohol consumption are also essential in order to estimate the level of harmful drinking patterns in a country, as well as demographic variations in consumption. This information is important in order to estimate the extent of alcohol-related harm in a country and identify groups of people who may be at higher risk of alcohol-related harm due to their patterns of consumption”.

• For the fourth year in a row, over half of adults in Ireland drink alcohol on “at least a weekly basis” – this figure is now just shy of 60% 
• For the second year in a row over ¼ of drinkers say that they typically engage in binge drinking when they drink  
• Also, for the second year in a row, well over half (56%) of adults who currently drink have engaged in binge drinking in the past 30 days