34% of drinkers, especially young people, practice binge drinking at least once a week. Italians who exaggerate with alcohol are 16% and some do it in a dangerous way. This is the result of a report sent last month by the Ministry of Health to the presidents of the Italian Upper and Lower Chambers, concerning the interventions put in place by the regional governments for the enforcement of the “Law concerning alcohol and alcohol-related problems”.

Compared to the rest of Europe, Italy has a lower number of alcohol consumers and binge drinking is less common. 26% of those who drink alcohol do it every day (double compared to the European average), 14% does it 4-5 times a week (the highest rate in Europe) and 34% practices binge drinking at least once a week (against the 28% of the European average).

Moreover 9.4% of the population consumes alcohol daily not in a moderate way and 15.9% does not respect the indications given by the health institutions. Binge drinking is very common amongst young people between 18 and 24 years old (22.1%) and 25-44 years old (16.9%).

Translated by Chiara Nunnari from John Milton Institute