Alcohol Facts

New Zealand’s drinking patterns

• 85 percent of New Zealanders aged 16–64 had an alcoholic drink in the past year (Ministry of Health, 2009).
• Three in five (61.6%) past-year drinkers consumed more than recommended guidelines for a single drinking occasion at least once during the last year (Ministry of Health, 2009).
• One in six (17.7%) adults (aged 15+) have a potentially hazardous drinking pattern (Ministry of Health, 2008).

Health impacts

• Alcohol consumption has been identified as an important risk factor for more than 60 different disorders (WHO, 2007).
• An estimated 3.8 percent of all global deaths and 4.6 percent of the global burden of disease (measured in disability-adjusted life-years) are attributable to alcohol (Rehm et al 2009).
• In New Zealand, estimates indicate between 600 and 1,000 people die each year from alcohol-related causes (Berl 2009; Connor et al., 2005).
• More than half of alcohol-related deaths are due to injuries, one-quarter to cancer and one-quarter to other chronic diseases (Connor et al., 2005).
• Between 18 and 35 percent of injury-based emergency department presentations are estimated to be alcohol-related, rising to between 60 and 70 percent during the weekend (Jones et al., 2009; Humphrey et al., 2003).
• 14 percent of the population are predicted to meet criteria for a substance use disorder at some time in their lives (Wells et al., 2007).

Crime and violence

• The New Zealand Police estimate that:
  • approximately one-third of all Police apprehensions involve alcohol
  • half of serious violent crimes are related to alcohol
  • over 300 alcohol-related offences are committed every day
  • each day, 52 individuals or groups of people are either driven home or detained in police custody because of intoxication (New Zealand Police, 2010).

Drink driving

• In 2008, driver alcohol/drugs was a contributing factor in 103 fatal crashes, 441 serious injury crashes and 1,156 minor crashes (Ministry of Transport, 2009).
• These crashes resulted in 119 deaths, 582 serious injuries and 1,726 minor injuries (Ministry of Transport, 2009).

Social costs

• A 2009 study, applying a methodology endorsed by the World Health Organization, estimated harmful alcohol use cost New Zealand $4.9 billion in 2005/06 (Berl 2009). However, previous estimates have ranged from $735 million to $16.1 billion (Law Commission, 2009, p168).

For assistance or advice on your drinking please call the
Alcohol Drug Help line 0800 787 797.