Alcohol consumption in India is higher in rural areas than in urban areas: age

According to the National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5), 2019-21, alcohol consumption is higher in both men and women. The study found that overall, 19 percent of men 15 years of age and older than 1 percent of women of the same age drink alcohol. Separation added 1.6 per cent among rural women and 0.6 per cent among urban women and 19.9 per cent and 16.5 per cent among men, respectively.

Of all the states, Arunachal Pradesh has the highest proportion of female (24 per cent) and male (53 per cent) alcoholics. In the case of women, Arunachal Pradesh is followed by Sikkim which stands at 16 per cent, while in the case of men, Telangana stands at 43 per cent. Apart from Arunachal and Telangana, alcohol consumption is higher among men, which is 40 per cent or more in the upper Brahmaputra region of Assam, districts of Jharkhand and Bastar region of Chhattisgarh, as well as the small Nagpur region of Jharkhand and Orissa.

In some districts of Tripura, Manipur, Meghalaya, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Orissa, alcohol consumption among men is 30-40 percent. It is below 30 per cent in the rest of India and the lowest in Lakshadweep which stands at 0.4 per cent.

Scheduled tribes consume more alcohol than other ethnic / tribal groups, with 6 per cent females in ST and 33 per cent in males. In terms of religious affiliation, the proportion of alcoholic men is higher among “other religions” (47 percent), 28 percent Christians, 24.5 percent Buddhists / neo-Buddhists, and 23 percent Sikhs. , 20 percent Hindu, 5.9 percent Jain and 5 percent Muslim.