Ghana misses out on Top 10 alcohol-consuming countries in Africa; Tunisia leads

The drinking habits on the African continent may vary from country to country but it’s turning out to be that there are some shockers in the forerun as countries with high alcoholic consumption.

Attitudes towards alcohol consumption may differ in countries likewise religious beliefs about consuming alcohol may also differ but people take it as a source of relief. Alcohol intake has become probably the only source of relief for those out of work, the only source of relief from extreme poverty or joblessness in some cases and people drink their problems away.

Reliable statistics on global alcohol consumption are hard to come by, but some institutions have tried to put some figures together and it will surprise you with some of the leading counties in the world and Africa.

Even though Ghana has a huge range of alcoholic bitters and alcoholic drinks, which are very strong and very cheap, it seems the country is missing out on the bar of alcoholic standards.

alcohol.org is an organ that investigates the alcohol consumption levels of countries and ranks them. Even though some countries refute the statistics often given, it is evident that most of the government regulations to restrict the production, selling and advertising of alcohol are not as effective as some governments assume them to be.

A majority of the top 10 alcohol-consuming countries are located in Europe but the continent of Africa is known to have some pretty heavy drinking cultures. The statistics vary each year. Surprisingly heavy alcohol-consuming countries like Cameroon, Nigeria and Ghana didn’t make the cut in 2021. The statistics are measures based on the average citizen of the countries and not population hence without any further ado, below are the top 10 alcohol-consuming countries in Africa

10. UGANDA- 26 litres per year

The use of alcohol in Uganda has been a course of content not only because of the high prevalence of it but also consumption amongst pregnant women patients, especially diabetics and teenagers. Alcohol use during pregnancy is seen to be high which has been associated with several births and development disorders. Besides pregnant women consuming alcohol, consumption is predicted to be the seventh leading cause of death in 2030 as alcohol consumption influences diabetes evolution.

According to the WHO, alcohol can interfere with self-care which are an important determinant of diabetes practices. Also in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic, there has been an increase in domestic violence for which alcohol consumption is a risk factor. These aspects have not only cost Ugandans a lot in terms of socio-economic values but have placed them as the 10th alcohol-consuming nation in Africa in 2021.

9. Botswana- 26.2 liters per year

It goes without saying that alcohol has been a part of Botswana’s history for many years and decades and has been an important component of cultural festivals, weddings and all the traditional ceremonies with changing social organization, values, lifestyles and much more and day-to-day rivalries and other places activities multiplying over the years so have drinking activities, the number of drinkers and the amount of drinking. This has made harmful drinking difficult to control, however, the government has demonstrated its commitment to addressing problems related to harmful alcohol consumption and has over the last decade put in place a number of policy and programmatic measures to control correlated harm. The majority of the alcohol consumption in Botswana is beer with 56 % while 12% is from Juan, 11% is from the spirit and 21% is from all the local brews.

8. Libya -26.4 litres per year

All is usual talk in Libya that’s how it sells and how to sell it is the daily talks but Libyans are also unaware and unsure about what to do with another kind of highly-priced liquid in the country alcohol.

The consumption and sale of alcohol are illegal in Libya but it hasn’t stopped the oil-rich nation from topping the charts of the highest African consumers as it’s not only popular but is available on the black market. Along with Mauritania and Sudan, Libya is one of only 3 Afghan countries that bans alcohol which has led to the popularization of another method of producing its home production. Alcohol in Libya is easy to find but only expensive given that it’s contraband another reason why the level of alcohol consumption is strange given the country is mostly Muslim but banned or not banned, tradition and religion or not Libyans are the eighth alcohol-consuming country in Africa 2021.

7. Zimbabwe- 27.2 litres per year

A study aimed at determining the drinking habit of Zimbabweans indicated that the overall prevalence of current drinking was 28.9% with a 95% confidence interval with 35.2% in women and 57.7% in men 40% of the current drinkers reported having at least one binge-drinking weekly. The prevalence of current drinking increases with age and education among women and with income among men, no consistent partner was observed in binge drinking by education in both genders and by annual income among men but it was significantly less frequent among the more affluent women.

6. LESOTHO-28.2 Litres per year

Though Lesotho’s total alcohol consumption filtrated substantially in recent years. It tended to decrease from 2000 to 2018 the period ended 7.89litres in 2018.

5. Algeria-29.1 liters per year

Coming heavily at number 5 is surprising another mostly muslim majority nation. Algeria’s total alcohol consumption in Algeria in 2021 is estimated at 29.1 litres per year, taking a lead over countries like Turkey with 28..5 litres per year and Iran with 28.4 litres per year.

4. South Africa-29.9litres per year

Drinking 48% of beer, 18% of wine, 17% from other alcohol sources. South Africa consumes almost 30 litres of alcohol per annum. Even though South Africa is the wine capital of the continent and one of the biggest wine producers. The majority of its alcohol consumption comes from beer.

3. Namibia-32.4 litres per year

Speaking of substances of abuse, Namibia is known to have a high prevalence of tobacco smoking and alcohol consumption. Alcohol consumption is very high as both sexes are highly invested in the habit. A study carried out among men and women aged between 15 and 64 years indicated that the prevalence of alcohol is 53.1%.

2. Eswatini-34.4 Litres per year

The effort made by the government of this small nation to curb alcohol consumption has been geared towards mitigating the effects of alcohol on the health of its citizens. Research shows that the notable prevalence of alcohol use on misuse among people living with HIV in Eswatini was higher amongst males, less educated, never married and those reported to have HIV stigma.

1. Tunisia- 36.6 litres per year

Coming in at number 1 is Tunisia beating Eswatini by 2.2 litres attaining 36.6 litres per annum. In a country that also highly flavours beer over other beverages, 72% of its alcohol consumption comes from beer followed by wine at 24% while others constitute less than 1%

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