The rate of high-risk drinking among men has declined across all age groups over the past decade, while among women it has instead risen in every age group from their 30s upward, a survey found. This means drinking habits that can trigger cardiovascular disease, cancer, liver disease and mental illness are spreading among middle-aged women.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) on the 27th released the results of an analysis of drinking-related indicators based on last year's Community Health Survey data. According to the findings, the adult drinking rate in Korea hit bottom in 2021 and has been rising again. Last year, 57.1% of adults, or roughly six out of 10, were found to have consumed alcohol at least once a month. The "monthly binge drinking rate," defined as drinking seven or more glasses (five cans of beer) in one sitting for men and five or more glasses (three cans of beer) for women at least once a month, stood at 33.7%. The "high-risk drinking rate," defined as consuming the same amount two or more times a week, was 12.0%.
Broken down by gender, the trends diverged clearly. Among men, drinking indicators generally declined across all age groups. Looking at the high-risk drinking rate alone, it fell across all age groups, dropping 41.6% among those in their 20s and 36.1% among those in their 30s. Among women, by contrast, the rate fell 18.5% only among those in their 20s, while it rose 19.1% among those in their 30s, 31.0% among those in their 40s and 13.2% among those in their 50s. The monthly binge drinking rate also rose among women in their 30s and older across the board.
Factors linked to high-risk drinking were also identified. Smokers were 2.6 times as likely to fall into high-risk drinking as non-smokers, those who had been diagnosed with chronic conditions such as high blood pressure or diabetes were 1.3 times as likely, and those with depressive symptoms were 1.2 times as likely. By region, as of last year, Ulsan had the highest monthly drinking rate in the country at 60.6%, while North Jeolla Province had the lowest at 52.2%. Ulsan also ranked first in the monthly binge drinking rate at 39.0%. The high-risk drinking rate was highest in Gangwon (15.7%), followed by North Chungcheong (14.4%) and Ulsan (13.3%). However, compared with 2016, the high-risk drinking rate declined in all cities and provinces, with the largest drops seen in Sejong (-5.7 percentage points), Jeju (-5.1 percentage points) and Incheon (-4.1 percentage points). When comparing the top and bottom 10 regions by drinking rate, the stress perception rate in regions with high monthly drinking rates was 23.5%, higher than the 20.1% in regions with low rates, while the chronic disease diagnosis rate in the top regions for high-risk drinking was 31.6%, a wide gap from the 21.7% in the bottom regions.
Even though Korea's high-risk drinking rate has come down somewhat over the past decade, it remains near the top by international standards. According to "Health at a Glance 2025" published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Korea's monthly binge drinking rate as of 2023 was the fifth highest among 27 comparable countries.
"As alcohol consumption increases, the burden of disease occurrence grows, so the safest choice is not to drink even a single glass," said Jekarl Jung, a professor at Ewha Womans University. "The harm to the drinker is a problem, but drinking can also be viewed as a social problem because it causes indirect harm to those around the drinker, such as drunk driving, accidents and the birth of deformed babies due to drinking during pregnancy." Lim Seung-kwan, commissioner of the KDCA, said, "Local governments and relevant institutions should, based on the results of this analysis, promote region-tailored alcohol prevention and management policies that reflect drinking characteristics by gender and age."
