According to recent data released by the European Commission, France is the country where the most alcohol is consumed… just after Lithuania.
No need to shout “Cocorico”! According to the latest report from the European Commission, published this Thursday, November 28, the French are among the biggest consumers of alcohol in Europe. They drink almost daily, do not necessarily expect to be in the evening or on the weekend. And therefore more than in Germany, England, Italy… In reality, only the Lithuanians drink more than the French. The Swedes are among the lowest alcohol consumers in Europe, with 7.1 liters of pure alcohol per adult on average in 2017.
A drop in consumption
However, in the long term, the French drink less and less alcohol. In 2017 in France, alcohol consumption averaged 11.7 liters of pure alcohol per adult. In 1990 it was 15.4 liters. In 1980, 20.1 liters. In 1970, 23.2 liters. However, if it remains strong, it is because wine is very low taxed compared to our European neighbors, according to the European Commission. Moreover, successive governments have always been accused of giving in to pressure from lobbies. Latest case to date: the “Dry January”. This “dry January” is a challenge born in 2013 in the United Kingdom. It simply consists of not drinking a drop of alcohol for the whole month. In 2018, 4 million Britons took part, and more than 100,000 registered on the operation site.
Get dry in January
Increasingly popular, the operation is emulated in France. However, the current government has not validated the organization of the challenge for the month of January 2020, while denying a potential influence by the lobbies: “We first want to raise awareness of the recent concept of new consumption benchmarks, it that is to say no more than two glasses a day and no more than ten a week, with two days of abstinence”, justified a representative of the Ministry of Health in the columns of the Parisian. The associations have taken over, the French Federation of Addictology (FFA) in the lead. They will organize “Dry January” via a Facebook account, a slogan and a hashtag on social networks, #LeDéfiDeJanvier.
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