Alcohol-related statistics

• Alcohol contributes to 100,000 deaths annually, making it the third leading cause of preventable mortality in the United States after tobacco and diet/activity patterns.
• More than seven percent of the population ages 18 years and older -- nearly 13.8 million Americans -- have problems with drinking, including 8.1 million people who are alcoholic.
• Almost three times as many men (9.8 million) as women (3.9 million) are problem drinkers, and prevalence is highest for both sexes in the 18-to-29 age group.
• About 43% of U.S. adults -- 76 million people -- have been exposed to alcoholism in the family -- they grew up with or married an alcoholic or a problem drinker or had a blood relative who was an alcoholic or problem drinker.
• 62% of high school seniors report that they have been drunk; 31% say they have had five or more drinks in a row during the last two weeks.
• People who begin drinking before age 15 are four times more likely to develop alcoholism than those who begin at age 21.
• 3.1 million Americans -- approximately 1.4% of the population 12 and older -- received treatment for alcoholism and alcohol-related problems in 1997; treatment peaked among people 26-34.
• Studies of suicide victims in the general population show that about 20% are alcoholic.

  Excerpted from the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence
  
  
  
  

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