20% of Portuguese drink alcohol daily

33.7% among retirees

The Portugal News reports that almost 20% of the Portuguese population over 16 consume alcoholic beverages on a daily basis, a figure that rises to 33.7% among retirees.

Data from the Survey on Living Conditions and Income carried out in 2022 by the Instituto Nacional de Estatística or INE is the Government office for national statistics of Portugal. indicate that daily consumption “was significantly higher in men (31.5%) than in women (8.5%) and in the elderly population, recording percentages higher in the group aged 65 to 74 years (34.7%)”.

Almost 20% of the population aged 16 or over reported having consumed alcoholic beverages daily during the 12 months preceding the interview, while 18.4% consumed it a few times a week, 12.3% a few times a month (but not weekly), and 14.2%, more rarely (a few times a year) and 35.8% reported not having consumed any alcoholic beverage in that period.

“The proportion of people who consumed alcohol daily and with a level of education up to basic education represented more than double those who had completed higher education”, says INE, noting that 33.7% of retirees indicated having consumed alcoholic beverages every day, a value much higher than that reported by the active population (15.7% in the case of employees and 15.4% in the case of the unemployed).

In the analysis of tobacco use, INE concluded that 14.1% of the population aged 16 or over smokes daily, a result slightly lower than that obtained based on the National Health Survey carried out in 2019 (14.2%).

Consumption was occasional for 2% of the population, and the distribution of regular tobacco consumption was more frequent in men (19.7%) than in women (9.2%), in people aged 25 to 64 years (between 18% and 21%) and in the population that had completed secondary education (17.2%).

Thanks to PeterA for the link