Key Points

Daily Alcohol Consumption

• In 2021, 7.9% of adults aged 18–75 reported drinking alcohol daily. This proportion of daily alcohol consumers has been steadily declining since 2005.

• This proportion is very similar to the national average (8.0%).

Heavy episodic drinking

• In 2021, 21.6% of adults aged 18–75 reported having monthly heavy drinking episodes; this proportion has remained unchanged since 2017 and is higher than the national average (16.5%).

• While women are less affected than men, this indicator is trending unfavorably, unlike that of their male counterparts.

Exceeding guidelines for lower-risk drinking

• In 2021, 26.9% of adults aged 18 to 75 reported exceeding safe drinking guidelines, a higher rate than the national average (22.0%).

• These exceedances affect men more, decrease with age—with young people more affected than older adults—and increase with income level.

Emergency room visits directly related to alcohol

• In 2023, 14,400 emergency room visits directly related to alcohol were recorded, compared to 15,100 in 2017.

• The proportion of emergency room visits directly related to alcohol was also decreasing, particularly in light of the increase in emergency room visits for all causes since 2021.

• The year 2020, which was atypical due to the COVID-19 pandemic, saw a lower number of visits.

• The departments with the highest rates of emergency room visits directly related to alcohol were Côtes d’Armor, Morbihan, and Ille-et-Vilaine for both genders.

• The proportion of emergency room visits directly linked to alcohol has been trending downward since 2017, with the exception of 2020 (an atypical year due to the COVID-19 pandemic).

• The departments with the highest rates of emergency room visits directly related to alcohol were Haute-Saône, Côte-d’Or, Territoire de Belfort, and Saône-et-Loire for both genders, and Nièvre additionally for men.