Report suggests affordability of alcohol is a driver of consumption and harm

On Monday 6 April 2009, DG Sanco released a comprehensive report commissioned to RAND Europe on the affordability [1] of alcoholic beverages in the EU. The study found a positive relationship between alcohol affordability, consumption and harms.

The report, " Understanding the link between alcohol affordability, consumption and harms", analyses the effect of alcohol affordability on consumption and three measures of associated harm: fatal traffic accidents, increase in traffic injuries and chronic liver cirrhosis. These findings refute the longstanding argument of the industry that price and affordability have no effect on consumption and harm.

Affordability of alcohol beverages in EU

The report suggests that in 18 Member States, affordability of alcohol has increased over the past twelve years. For some countries, alcohol affordability has more than doubled over this period. More notably, alcohol appears to have become relatively more affordable for 16-24 year olds compared to the general population.

Young people are particularly sensitive to changes in price

Studies have shown that young people are sensitive to alcohol price changes, and that price increases lead not only to reduced frequency of drinking but also to smaller quantities drunk in each drinking event. This has important implications for alcohol policy especially across the EU, where there is growing recognition of the high incidence of hazardous youth drinking.

Positive relationship between alcohol affordability and consumption

Researchers found that an increase in affordability is associated with an increase in consumption in the short term; a finding consistent with existing research

Positive relationship between alcohol consumption and three measures of harm

In addition, the report finds statistically significant, positive relationships between consumption and fatal traffic accidents, traffic injuries and liver cirrhosis. A 1% increase in consumption is associated with an increase of:

- 0.86% in fatal traffic accidents,

- 0.61% in traffic injuries,

- 0.37% in chronic liver cirrhosis

Lila Rabinovich, the lead author of the report said: "The report provides the first comprehensive assessment of the affordability of alcohol in the European Union. It shows that alcohol has become more affordable in most EU Member States over the last decade. This increase in affordability should be of concern to policy-makers, as this study also demonstrates that increases in affordability are linked to increases in consumption, which in turn lead to increases in alcohol harms. The findings of this study thus suggest that pricing policy could be an important part of an effective policy mix to tackle harmful and hazardous alcohol consumption".

Notes

1. The Report was commissioned in the context of the European Alcohol Health Forum, a multi stakeholder platform bringing together economic operators and NGOs.

2. The report is available on the European Commission's website:

http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_determinants/life_style/alcohol/news_rand_en.htm