In India, averages deceive. Most Indian adults do not drink, but those who do, out-drink the world’s biggest drinkers, a data analysis by The Hindu shows.
In terms of pure alcohol (alcohol content), Indians over the age of 15 drank 4.3 litres on average a year during 2008-10 compared with the global average of 6.2 litres, shows a World Health Organisation estimate. However, the proportion of “abstainers” or teetotallers in the country is so high — 85 per cent of those over the age of 15 (95 per cent of women and 75 per cent of men) — that the average alcohol consumed by those who drink skyrockets to 28.7 litres each a year, a good 10 litres higher than the global average and higher than even the consumption in Belarus, the world’s biggest drinking country.
The average Indian drinks 8.74 litres of alcoholic drinks (distinct from alcohol content) a year, data from 2011-12 gathered by the National Sample Survey Office show, with toddy and country liquor being far more popular than wine and spirits. But once again, the averages hide the fact that those who drink in India, drink a lot.
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Illustration by Vivekanandan M
Among rural households surveyed by the NSSO, less than a tenth (7.7 per cent) reported country liquor consumption, though it was the most widely drunk liquor. For spirits, it was just 3.6 per cent, toddy 2.7 per cent and beer just 1 per cent. Adjusting the rural Indian average for households reporting consumption, The Hindu found that per capita consumption skyrocketed to 340 litres a year, over half of this being toddy. So while just 2.7 per cent of the rural households drink toddy, each drinker consumes an astounding half a litre a day on average — or more likely, large quantities at intervals.
Urban India drinks even less commonly — just 3.9 per cent of the households reported consuming spirits, 3.8 per cent country liquor and 2.1 per cent beer. Just a fraction reported consuming toddy. Adjusting for only those households that drink, The Hindu found that urban Indian drinkers consume 301 litres per person a year. Surprisingly, toddy is yet again the biggest drink in volume. Though just 0.3 per cent of urban households drink toddy, these drinkers consume over half of all the alcohol drunk in urban India — 156 litres per person a year.
Among the States, Andhra Pradesh is by far India’s biggest drinking State, with a consumption of 665 ml per person a week on average, or nearly 34.5 litres a year, across types of alcohol. Kerala is far behind, at 196 ml a week or just 10.2 litres a year. Moreover, the proportion of households reporting alcohol consumption in Andhra Pradesh is also high.
Income starkly affects alcohol consumption; in rural areas, toddy and country liquor consumption rises with class and falls only in the case of the richest 5 per cent, while beer and refined liquor rises with class. For urban areas, country liquor consumption falls as people get richer, while beer and refined liquor consumption rises exponentially.