Alcohol consumption worldwide

Our World in Data recently updated their excellent article on alcohol consumption, with interactive graphics showing cross-sectional differences between countries, and trends over time. The data are pretty clear - New Zealand is neither the least, nor the most, negatively affected by alcohol consumption. Here are a few of the graphs that stuck out for me (though I encourage you to browse through the whole article and have a play with the graphs yourself). First, total alcohol consumption per capita over time:

Notice that New Zealand is towards the bottom of this group of Western countries all the way through the series from 1890 to 2014. Next, consumption by type of beverage for New Zealand, over time:

There's only a few data points in this one, but the massive increase in wine consumption since the 1970s is apparent. Finally, an illustration of why alcohol is such a concern for many public health researchers:

The big four mortality risk factors are high blood pressure, smoking, high blood sugar, and obesity. Then there's a big gap, but alcohol leads the rest of the risk factors in terms of the number of deaths, contributing to over 1200 deaths per year. Once you factor in the other costs of alcohol-related harms, it's easy to see why this is a focus.

Anyway, Our World in Data is an excellent site, and this is just one of many articles on topics as diverse as income inequality and renewable energy. It's a great place to visit to visualise some data, and the best part is that the graphs are (somewhat) customisable and the data are freely accessible as well. Enjoy!