ALCOHOL abuse is responsible for nearly one in 10 deaths among people aged 35 to 54 in Spain, experts have warned.
Researchers found alcohol was linked to a staggering 300,000 deaths across the country between 2001 and 2021 – the latest available mortality data – with nearly 14,000 deaths in 2021 alone.
The new government-backed analysis, carried out by researchers from Spain’s National School of Public Health, also discovered alcohol was linked to 3.3% of all deaths among people aged 15 and over in 2021, rising to 9.7% among those aged between 35 and 54.
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It comes amid growing alarm over binge drinking in Spain, with the health ministry reporting that episodes of intensive drinking have more than doubled over the past decade.
Alcohol is linked to more than 200 diseases, injuries and other health conditions, affecting almost every major organ in the body.
It is a known carcinogen and can damage cells and DNA as the body breaks it down, increasing the risk of cancers including those of the mouth, throat, liver, bowel and breast.
Cancer was the biggest category of alcohol-linked deaths in Spain in 2021, accounting for nearly 6,000 fatalities.
Digestive diseases caused more than 5,000 deaths, while accidents and injuries accounted for 2,600.
Long-term heavy drinking can also damage the liver, causing inflammation and scarring that can eventually lead to cirrhosis.
Alcohol also slows reaction times and impairs judgement, increasing the risk of accidents and injuries in the short term.
In a silver lining, health ministry figures also show that regular drinking has fallen sharply in Spain over the past two decades.
Between 2006 and 2023, weekly drinking among people aged 15 and over fell from 48% to 31% – a slump of more than a third.
Among 15 to 24-year-olds, it crashed from 43.8% to 17.9%.
But binge drinking remains a concern, with 16% of 15 to 64-year-olds reporting an episode in the previous 30 days in 2024.
Men accounted for 78.3% of alcohol-linked deaths in 2021, with their risk of dying from alcohol-related causes around four times higher than women.
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