The French drink less, but still too much.
Alcohol consumption has fallen over three decades, but still remains “very high”, observes Public Health France, in its latest epidemiological bulletin, published Tuesday.
In 2021, the share of weekly drinkers among 18-75 year olds was 39%… compared to 62.6% in 2000. And the proportion of adults consuming drinks every day was almost divided by three, going from 21, 5% in 2000 to 8.0% in 2021, according to this study which is based on declarative data.
However, the phenomenon of “heavy occasional drinking”, nicknamed
binge-drinking,
tends to stabilize and even increase among women over 35.
Above all, the ways of consuming are not the same from one region to another, but also between genders and generations.
In 2021, Occitanie (11%), Nouvelle-Aquitaine (10.2%) and Pays de la Loire (9.7%) concentrated the greatest number of daily drinkers among 18-75 year olds.
Far behind are Île-de-France (5.4%), Guadeloupe (5%), Réunion (5.1%) and Martinique (5%).
Hauts-de-France (6.8%) and Brittany (7.9%) remain below the national average of 8%.
How can we explain such disparities?
First of all, the mode of consumption changes with age, observes Maria Melchior, research director at Inserm, specialist in addictions.
“Drinking every day affects older people more;
the demography of the regions therefore plays a role in the distribution of this consumption.”
Also read “Dry January”: 48 addictologists ask the State to support the month of January without alcohol
Because if we look more closely, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Occitanie and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur concentrate departments with an older population than in the rest of France.
According to figures dating from 2020 from INSEE, Lot-et-Garonne (Nouvelle-Aquitaine), Charente-Maritime (Nouvelle-Aquitaine), Dordogne (Nouvelle-Aquitaine) but also Ariège (Occitanie) and Aude (Occitanie) have a proportion of seniors - over 65 years old - greater than 26%, compared to 20.5% for the whole of France.
“Other studies have also shown that consumption, particularly of wine, was more present in producing regions”, such as Occitanie, Pays de la Loire or Nouvelle-Aquitaine, adds Maria Melchior.
“Different sociability depending on the region”
Another map emerges if we look at greater occasional alcohol consumption.
This threshold, which corresponds to “six drinks on one occasion”, has not changed significantly between 2017 and 2021 among adults.
Pays de la Loire, Brittany and Guyana remain the regions most affected by this type of consumption.
When Île-de-France (15%), Hauts-de-France (14.8%) and the Grand-Est are below the national average established at 16.5%.
“There is a different sociability depending on the region.
Brittany being a region with a very strong cultural and student identity, with the city of Rennes, it is not surprising to see more festive consumption there,” underlines the researcher.
For each type of consumption, Île-de-France remains below the French averages.
An observation which can also be explained by the socio-economic situation of its inhabitants, notes Maria Melchior.
“We know that there is a link between the social level of individuals (level of qualifications, income, etc.) and the risk of alcohol abuse.
However, Île-de-France has a lower unemployment rate (7%) than in other regions such as Hauts-de-France (9.2%), points out the epidemiologist.
Despite falling figures, Public Health France insists on the need “to support these trends with prevention actions which help to denormalize and reduce alcohol consumption”.
In December, nearly fifty addictologists asked the State to support “Dry January”, recalling that alcohol still kills 41,000 people per year.
An initiative that is also defended by Maria Melchior, who deplores a lack of concrete action on the part of the State on the issue.
“The public authorities have tackled the problem of tobacco head-on, but are struggling to do so for alcohol, with the interests of the wine sector being at stake.”
The researcher calls for increased prevention and “better enforcement of legislation” such as “the ban on the sale of alcohol to minors, which is very poorly respected”.