The Czech Republic continues to be one of the countries with the highest alcohol consumption in Europe. A new report shows alarming figures: Up to 900,000 people drink alcohol excessively every day, and the abuse of psychoactive drugs is also on the rise. Experts are calling for stricter measures to curb the health and social consequences.
The Government Council for the Coordination of Addiction Policy has presented the latest report on alcohol consumption in the Czech Republic for 2024, along with a report on the problematic use of psychoactive drugs in the country for the same year. Up to ten per cent of Czechs over the age of 15 consume excessive amounts of alcohol every day.
‘The Czech population’s attitude towards alcohol consumption and the use of medication is very tolerant. One-third of adults consider regular alcohol consumption to be acceptable. Czech society is equally tolerant of alcohol advertising,’ says Lucia Kiššová, Head of the Drug Policy Department at the Government Office of the Czech Republic. She adds, ‘In an international comparison, alcohol consumption in our country is still among the highest in Europe.’
According to the report, 15-18% of the Czech population consume alcohol in a risky way — this corresponds to an estimated 1.3 to 1.6 million people. In addition, 6-10% of adults (600,000 to 900,000 people) suffer from harmful alcohol consumption. Data from the past two years shows that daily alcohol consumption has risen slightly after a decline during the COVID-19 pandemic. Every year, 6,000 to 7,000 people die as a result of alcohol consumption — that is 6% of total mortality in the Czech Republic. Furthermore, 13,000 to 14,000 hospital admissions due to alcohol-related illnesses are reported annually, over 15,000 due to alcohol-related accidents, and almost 5,000 traffic accidents are caused under the influence of alcohol.
The report also addresses the increasing daily use and abuse of drugs with sedative, hypnotic, and anxiolytic effects among adults. It also shows a growing number of cases where drug misuse has led to hospitalisation due to accidents, as well as an increase in patients in both outpatient and inpatient psychiatric care.
‘According to current estimates, 12-15% of the population — i.e. 1.1 to 1.4 million adults — fall into the category of problematic use or misuse of psychoactive medication. Sedatives and hypnotics are overused by up to one million people, while opioid-based painkillers are abused by up to 670,000 people,’ says Pavla Chomynová, head of the National Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Addiction. She adds, ‘The combination of alcohol with psychoactive medication is particularly risky. An estimated 3% of the Czech population fall into the category of both risky alcohol consumption and drug abuse.’
Users of sedatives and hypnotics account for almost 6% of outpatients and 3% of psychiatric inpatients. In both cases, however, alcohol addicts dominate (56% in outpatient care and 61% in inpatient care). Every year, over 2,000 people seek medical help for substance abuse — mostly women between the ages of 60 and 69. Additionally, 26,000 people seek psychiatric treatment for alcohol problems each year, primarily men aged 40 to 49 and 50 to 59. Early identification of the problem and timely intervention are crucial, but the number of brief interventions carried out by GPs remains low. Only half of doctors conduct brief interventions for alcohol consumption, compared to 42% for medication.
An insufficient focus on effective prevention is particularly evident when it comes to alcohol. The report on alcohol consumption in the Czech Republic for 2024 highlights that international recommendations for reducing the negative effects of alcohol consumption are insufficiently implemented. Current estimates of the social costs caused by alcohol abuse amount to over CZK 80 billion per year.
