Pure alcohol consumption, litres per capita, age 15+

Pure alcohol consumption, litres per capita, age 15+
Indicator code: E170101.T

Source of data:WHO Global Health Observatory Data Repository, available from http://apps.who.int/ghodata/; http://www.who.int/substance_abuse/publications/global_alcohol_report/en/index.html



About recorded adult per capita consumption

Indicator name: Recorded adult (15+ years) per capita consumption of pure alcohol

Short name: Recorded APC

Data Type: Rate

Rationale The recorded APC is part of a core set of indictors, whose purpose is to monitor the magnitude, pattern and trends of alcohol consumption in the adult population.

Definition: Recorded APC is defined as the recorded amount of alcohol consumed per adult (15+ years) over a calendar year in a country, in litres of pure alcohol. The indicator only takes into account the consumption which is recorded from production, import, export, and sales data often via taxation. Numerator: The amount of recorded alcohol consumed per adult (15+ years) during a calendar year, in litres of pure alcohol. Denominator: Midyear resident population (15+ years) for the same calendar year, UN World Population Prospects, medium variant.

Associated terms Pure alcohol: 100% ethanol

Preferred data sources: Administrative reporting systems

Other possible data sources: None

Measurement method (at national level): Recorded adult per capita consumption of pure alcohol is calculated as the sum of beverage-specific alcohol consumption of pure alcohol (beer, wine, spirits, other) from different sources. The first priority in the decision tree is given to government statistics; second are country-specific alcohol industry statistics in the public domain (Canadean, IWSR, OIV, Wine Institute, historically World Drink Trends); and third is the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations' statistical database (FAOSTAT). For countries, where the data source is FAOSTAT the unrecorded consumption may be included in the recorded consumption. As from the introduction of the \"Other\" beverage-specific category, beer includes malt beers, wine includes wine made from grapes, spirits include all distilled beverages, and other includes one or several other alcoholic beverages, such as fermented beverages made from sorghum, maize, millet, rice, or cider, fruit wine, fortified wine, etc. Also, there has been a change in the data source for some countries in the early 2000's.

Method of estimation In order to make the conversion into litres of pure alcohol, the alcohol content of beer, wine, and spirits is considered to be 5%, 12% and 40% respectively. Specific conversion factors are used for other, less common types of alcoholic beverages. However, since the data sources may use different conversion factors to estimate alcohol content, the beverage-specific recorded APC may not equal the total provided, in some cases.

Method of estimation of regional and global aggregates Adult per capita consumption data exist for almost all countries. Regional and global estimates are calculated as a population weighted average of country data.

Disaggregation By type of alcoholic beverage (beer, wine, spirits and other alcoholic beverages)

Unit of measure Litres of pure alcohol per adult (15+ years) per year

Multiplier None

Expected frequency of data dissemination Annual

Expected frequency of data collection Annual

Comments and limitations Factors, such as stockpiling, waste and spillage, as well as cross-border shopping (recorded in different jurisdiction), tax free alcohol, surrogate alcohol and variations in beverage strength, cannot be accounted for. This may influence the accuracy of recorded consumption as an indicator for alcohol consumed. Also, administrative data does not enable the disaggregation of recorded adult per capita by gender - to this end, other data sources such as survey data are needed.



Contact person NHM/MSD/MSB



Note: Other alcohol is currently not reported in the Health for All database._