An examination of patterns of alcohol consumption among adults in Ireland in 2024
We were thrilled to host our 12th Research Briefing event on 26th November 2024 at which John O’Mahony, IPSOS B&A gave the keynote presentation focusing on key findings from our latest Barometer survey. The Drinkaware Barometer is a national population-based survey of 1,000 adults aged 18+ conducted by IPSOS B&A on an annual basis and includes a series of internationally recognised modules relating to alcohol consumption and mental health. Collectively, extensive data gathered since the commencement of the Barometer series in 2017 allows for an annual examination of drinking practices over time and how they relate to other practices within daily life including key patterns and trends within the data. Having data over the course of various time points also provides crucial tangible action points which the country can act on. It important in terms of listening and responding to what adults want and need in terms of alcohol information – this is at the core of our work in terms of aiming to prevent and reduce the misuse of alcohol. We are thoroughly proud of working with IPSOS B&A on this body of work over 8 time points to date. John O’Mahony carefully took the 15+ stakeholders from across a range of disciplines and backgrounds who attended (virtually) on a fascinating and extremely insightful journey, plotting out the key findings from this survey for 2024.
Mr O’Mahony highlighted that the Drinkaware 2024 Barometer provides three key learnings. Firstly, alcohol consumption patterns are largely stable in comparison to last year, suggesting the increase registered since COVID-19 may have been normalised – pointing to both weekly+ and binge drinking rates as examples of such (59% of adults who drink reported doing so on a weekly basis+ and 25% engage in binge drinking on a typical day when drinking in the past 30 days). Second, in terms of motivations and in comparison to pre-COVID-19, we are now more likely to drink for coping reasons and drinking from home alone is the most common drinking occasion. This appears consistent with increase in the low mental wellbeing scale registered in comparison to pre-COVID-19 (low mental wellbeing was 11% in 2018 vs 34% in 2024). Finally, and more positively, 37% of drinkers agree they ‘would like to drink alcohol less often’, which is the highest registered to date. Awareness of the health harms associated with alcohol, and more general physical health and fitness factors are key influences to drink less.
This also allowed the opportunity to discuss some issues further with John during the briefing both with our CEO Dearbhla O’Brien and Research and Impacts Manager, Dr Ann Stokes, some of which are highlighted further here. For instance, Dearbhla commented at while per-capita consumption in Ireland is going down (Per capita alcohol use in Ireland in 2023 was 9.9 litres of pure alcohol per person aged 15 years and over, a 2.9% decrease from 2022, (based on 2022 population estimates), among those who are drinking, we are continuing to see harmful patterns and what jumps out at us – we now have 1 in 4 who typically binge drink, and that was 1 in 5 back in 2020. Indeed, since our Winter Research Briefing took place, findings from the 2024 Healthy Ireland Survey have been released and tell a similar story in terms of worrying trends surrounding binge drinking in Ireland Overall, 28% binge drink on a typical drinking occasion, an increase from 24% measured in 2023. Men aged 15 to 24 have the highest level of binge drinking at 50%. Dearbhla also noted that we must remain positive and hopeful, as our 2024 data identifies 37% of adults have taken action to reduce their consumption and we need to build on this as a society.
Dr Stokes asked John when thinking of the comparisons between pre-COVID-19 and 2024, if he could pick out a standout in terms of the ‘new normal?’ The frequency of consuming 6 or mote standard drinks in the past 30 days is very worrying according to John. When you think that 46% of adult drinkers were binge drinking on a regular basis in 2020, now it’s up to 58% – it is the anthesis of drinking in moderation. And when we look at the frequency of binge drinking, the demographic profile of it is concerning as it invariably peaks among young adults. For instance, Barometer 2024 found that 58% of adults who drink have engaged in binge drinking in the past 30 days, constituting a rise for the fourth year in a row; with incidence now almost 10 percentage points higher than 2021. Frequency of recent binge drinking also peaks among men (69%) and young adults (18-24 yr olds (70%) and 25-34 yrs (69%), with a continued increase on previous years. Looking at typically engaging in binge drinking, Healthy Ireland 2024 also found that men aged 15 to 24 have the highest level of binge drinking at 50%. We are looking forward to shortly commencing qualitative research focusing on the young adult cohort (18–24-year-olds) and herein lies the importance of such large bodies of quantitative data over time. The Barometer series has allowed us in turn to build the foundation of evidence and the rational for why we go about wanting to undertake more specific research. We are very excited to work on this new project and look forward to sharing insights from it once available.
In terms of the drinking at home alone figure (32% of adult drinkers have reported doing so as least once a week in the past 30 days), people might say why is that worrying, why does that matter if I want to have a drink in my own home? Ann noted what stands out from John’s presentation, is that when people don’t understand how much they may be drinking in the first place, that’s where potential problematic practices may take hold; people may be drinking more than they want or set out to. We will be sharing findings specifically relating to public knowledge of different facts including the HSE Low-risk weekly guidelines as part of a summary paper on our website soon.
If you are working on a piece of research that is alcohol-related, please get in contact with us, as the Research Briefing Series provides an opportunity and a platform for anyone working in this space to share their research and we would love to hear from you. We look forward to facilitating further debate on alcohol and behavioural change by hosting our next research briefing in 2025 and in so doing, contribute to sharing learnings and knowledge. If you would like to be added to our invite list, please email research@drinkaware.ie. We also encourage you to look at the section dedicated to our Research Briefing Series on our website to which any outputs from this and all previous events are added and freely accessible. Please note that the views expressed in our Research Briefing Series are those of the speakers, based on their work in research and other disciplines.