Public Health France (SPF) publishes this Tuesday a new study tracing changes in alcohol consumption among French men and women in 2021. This survey system set up in 1992 aims to monitor the main behaviors and attitudes in relation to risk-taking and the state of health of population.
In thirty years between 1992 and 2021, the share of adults reporting drinking alcohol every day has been divided by three, both among men and women according to the report. For several decades, weekly and daily consumption has been decreasing: the share of weekly consumers was 62.6% in 2000 and reached 39.0% in 2021. The proportion of adults consuming alcohol every day was 23.9 % in 1992 compared to 8.0% in 2021. SPF justifies this development by the effectiveness of public policies such as Evin law of 1991 severely limiting advertising for alcohol and prohibiting sales to minors under 16 years of age. “The decline in the volumes of alcohol sold observed in France since the 1960s” also has something to do with it.
French women increasingly victims of “ binge drinking »
Even if this report notes a decrease in alcohol consumption among men, the latter remains very high in France, especially among women… See always greater and more frequent. The share of women aged 35 to 55 reporting having consumed alcohol every day over the last twelve months increased between 2017 (22.3%) and 2021 (27.9%). Same observation for the oldest among them. Between 2017 and 2021, the proportion of women aged 55 and over reporting APIs (heavy occasional alcohol use, otherwise known as “binge drinking”), whatever the frequency, is increasing significantly.
According to Public Health France, societal developments justify these changes: an increase in women in the labor market, an increase in the age at first marriage or child, or even compliance with certain codes or the effectiveness of “aggressive marketing” which targets a female audience.