The rate of heavy drinkers among adolescents – those aged 15-16 years old – is considerably higher than the adults in most European countries. As early drinking is associated with drinking later on in life, this presents a serious public health problem on the continent. In 2019, on average, more than one third (37.4 per cent) of adolescents in the EU reported heavy episodic drinking at least once in the last 30 days whereas this rate was less than one in five (18.7 per cent) among the adults. Adolescent heavy drinkers were therefore twice as many as adults. Dry January: Where in Europe is drin…
