In the Czech Republic, up to 900,000 people aged 15 and older consume excessive amounts of alcohol daily, according to the annual 2024 report on alcohol consumption presented by Pavla Chomínová, head of the National Center for Drug Monitoring. Additionally, around 275,000 individuals combine alcohol with psychoactive substances.
Alcohol consumption is categorized into four groups based on daily intake and associated risk: harmful (resulting in health damage), risky (also causing health damage), moderate, and abstinent. Any level of alcohol intake carries a risk of negative consequences, and no amount is considered completely safe or beneficial for health.
For men, daily alcohol consumption exceeding sixty grams of ethanol is harmful, and for women, more than forty grams is harmful. This corresponds to three to five standard drinks per day for men and one and a half to three standard drinks for women.
In the Czech Republic, a standard drink is defined as 0.5 liters of beer, 0.2 liters of wine, or 5 centiliters of strong liquor, with each containing between sixteen and twenty grams of ethanol. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines a standard drink as containing between ten and twelve grams of pure alcohol, which would equate to 280-330 milliliters of beer, 150-180 milliliters of champagne, 30-40 milliliters of whiskey, 60-80 milliliters of liqueur, or 100-120 milliliters of red wine.
The Czech Republic remains one of the countries with the highest average levels of alcohol consumption per capita, with an average of ten liters of ethanol consumed per person annually—about 22 grams per person daily, including children and the elderly.
Between six and ten percent of individuals over 15 years old—around 600,000 to 900,000 people—consume alcohol in a manner that results in harmful health consequences. Additionally, between 15 and 18 percent of Czech adults drink in a way that poses health risks, totaling approximately 1.3 to 1.6 million people. Up to thirteen percent of adults consume alcohol excessively at least once a week, with twenty-one percent of men and seven percent of women in this group. From 2014 to 2020, the rate of daily alcohol consumption initially increased, decreased the following year, and has since experienced a slight rise again.
