European Alcoho... / Resources / Country Profiles / Romania
Romania
The traditional alcoholic beverage in Romania is called plinca or tuica. It is a homemade, distilled brandy of about 40% alcohol content. It is made from fruits such as apples, pears and plums. Homemade wines and other liquors are also very popular.
Between the years 1961 and 1981, recorded adult per capita consumption of alcoholic beverages more than doubled, from less than 6 litres in 1961 to over 12 litres in 1981. From that year, the recorded levels declined overall, with short spikes through the years, to reach around 8 litres per capita in 2001. [1]
Youth Drinking: In the 2003 ESPAD study of subjects 15 to 16 years old (total sample size 4371), the proportion of subjects who had consumed alcohol more than 40 times in their life was 17.4%. In the same study, the proportion of subject who admitted to binge-drinking (defined as at least 5 drinks in a row) three times during the past 30 days was 4.7%. [2]
The mortality rate per 100,000 people for liver cirrhosis and chronic hepatits was 46.71 in 2000, 52.11 in 2001, 55.09 in 2002 and 51.19 in 2003. [3]
The number of alcohol-related road traffic accidents per 100,000 people was 2.57 in 1999 and 2.42 in 2000. [4]
[1] World Drink Trends (2002) (Henley-on-Thames, United Kingdom, Productschap voor Gedistilleerde Dranken and World Advertising Research Centre Ltd).
[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] Center of Sanitary Statistics and Medical Documentation, Bucharest, Romania.
[4] European health for all database. World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe (http://hfadb.who.dk/hfa)
