Overview

The consumption of alcohol is widespread within Australia and entwined with many social and cultural activities. However, harmful levels of consumption are a major health issue, associated with increased risk of chronic disease, injury and premature death.

More reports and statistics on alcohol can be found under Alcohol & other drug treatment services, Illicit use of drugs and Smoking.

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Latest findings

Smoking rates increase with socioeconomic disadvantage, but illicit drug use highest in the most advantaged areas.

Australians are increasingly supportive of cannabis use and most support pill-testing.

Between 2016 and 2019, the proportion of people who had ever used e-cigarettes rose from 8.8% to 11.3%.

Non-medical pharmaceutical use is down, driven by a fall in use of pain-killers.

In 2019, 43% of Australians had illicitly used a drug in their life and 16.4% had used one in the last 12 months.

In 2019, 11.0% of Australians smoked tobacco daily, down from 12.2% in 2016 and 24% in 1991.

Highlights

4 in 5(79%) adults consumed alcohol in the previous year in 2019
2 in 3 (66%) 14–17 year olds had never consumed a full standard drink—an increase from 28% in 2001
1 in 7(15%) people have consumed 11 or more standard drinks at least once in the previous 12 months
1 in 5(21%) Australians aged 14 and over reported being a victim of an alcohol-related incident in 2019. This has declined from 26% in 2013
In 2018, apparent consumption of alcohol was 9.5 litres per capita—a decline since 2008 when it was 10.8 litres per capita
37%of clients sought treatment for alcohol as a principal drug of concern in 2020–21, the most common principal drug of concern