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75 billion smokes: report reveals which vices Germans indulge most

Emma Anderson
Emma Anderson - [email protected]
75 billion smokes: report reveals which vices Germans indulge most
Photo: DPA.

A new report shows that Germans are cutting back a bit on smoking traditional cigarettes, but are drinking at an "especially high" rate compared to other countries.

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According to the report on Tuesday by the German Centre for Addiction Issues (DHS) part of the Health Ministry, Germans still have a big taste for alcohol, and are smoking fewer traditional cigarettes. Here’s a look at some of the other new findings.

920 cigarettes per person per year

Photo: DPA.

Tobacco consumption dropped in 2016 with the purchase of ready-made cigarettes falling by 7.7 percent compared to 2015. Teens and young adults in particular were saying no to smokes.

Still with more than 75 billion cigarettes smoked last year, that means that statistically speaking, each of Germany’s roughly 81 million residents smoked 920 cigarettes. But at least that’s a decrease of about 100 cigarettes per person compared to 2015.

About 21 percent of Germany’s population over 15 years old are considered daily smokers, according to the OECD’s latest data. This puts Germany just outside of the top ten smoking countries in the European Union at 11th place, and above nations like Lithuania, Italy, and the United Kingdom.

14.6 litres of pure alcohol per person

Photo: DPA.

Each German drank 9.6 litres of pure alcohol in 2015. But when taking into account that most alcohol is consumed by those between 15 and 65 years old, the average for this population was 14.6 litres of pure alcohol.

“Therefore the per capita consumption in Germany has not changed from its high level,” the report states.

The report authors also called the level of consumption in Germany when compared internationally “especially high”.

In the OECD’s most recent comparison, Germany was number nine for alcohol consumption out of all 36 OECD countries.

135.5 litres of alcoholic drinks each

When looking at the total volume of alcoholic drinks, the report found that each German resident knocked back 135.5 litres of alcoholic beverage, which was only a slight decrease of 1 percent compared to the year before.

3.4 million adults have alcohol-related issues

“Despite a small decrease in consumption, we cannot give the all-clear,” the report notes.

This is because a representative survey showed that about 3.4 million adults had an alcohol-related problem in the past year, such as reporting abuse of the substance or addiction. There are also about 74,000 deaths each year linked to alcohol.

Psychological or behavioral disorders related to alcohol were also the second most frequent diagnoses in hospitals in 2015.

130 percent increase in alcohol-related hospital stays for kids and teens

Nearly 22,000 children and teens between the ages of ten and 19 were admitted to hospital in 2015 due to acute alcohol abuse. This is an increase of 130 percent on the year 2000.

One in four Germans has tried illegal drugs

Photo: DPA.

About 28 percent of adult Germans in 2015 admitted to trying an illegal drug at least once in their lives. This figure was one in ten for teens.

Cannabis was the most widely used drug with 7.3 percent of teens and 6.1 percent of adults reporting that they had used it at least once in 2015.

Germany just recently legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes, allowing those with serious illnesses to receive prescribed treatments from their doctors.

With DPA

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