European Alcoho... / Resources / Country Profiles / Cyprus
Cyprus
Although total per capita alcohol consumption spiked in the early 1990s, it decreased sharply around 1995 and has leveled off around 6.5 litres of pure alcohol per capita as of 2001.
Traditional alcoholic beverages in Cyprus are anise-flavoured Ouzo and the local spirit Zivania (fire water).
Forty thousand Cypriots abuse alcohol, and alcoholism among young adults has been on the rise in the past decade. One in three Cypriots had tried alcohol before the age of 15 and 10% admitted they had got drunk at least once before the age of 15. More men are in treatment for alcoholism than women, at a ratio of 4:1. [1]
Youth Drinking: In the 1999 ESPAD study of subjects 15 to 16 years old (total sample size n = 2095; males n = 897 and females n = 1198) the proportion of subjects who reported being drunk three times or more in the last 30 days was 3% (total), 5% (males) and 1% (females). [2]
Abstainers, as estimated by experts in 1995, were approximately 1.2% of males and 15.4% of females, comprising 8.3% of the total population. [3]
[1] Saoulli A. Alcoholics becoming younger, study warns. The Cyprus Mail, October 19 2002.
[2] Hibell B et al. The 1999 ESPAD Report. The European School Survey on Alcohol and Other Drugs: Alcohol and Other Drug Use Among Students in 30 European Countries. Stockholm, Council of Europe, 2000.
[3] Alcohol per capita consumption, patterns of drinking and abstention worldwide after 1995. Appendix 2. European Addiction Research, 2001, 7(3):155–157.
