A study of drinking patterns in Latin America by the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO) in Costa Rica shows that Dominican men are only second to Venezuelans when it comes to alcohol consumption.

Alcohol Consumption Patterns in Latin America revealed there are differences in consumption. Carlos Sojo, chief researcher, said the study found that Mexico and the Central America countries are below average in terms of people who will consume at least one drink during the year (five out of ten people) whereas in South America and the Caribbean it rises to six out of ten. El Salvador had the most abstemious population with 38.9% and the Dominican Republic had the second lowest with only 5.6%, only beaten by Colombia with 4.2%.

The research showed that the average consumption of pure alcohol was 5.5 liters a year, which was low compared to 13 liters in Europe, 9.8 in Canada and 9.4 in the United States. In the region, the country with the highest rate of consumption was Venezuela with 8.9 liters per person per year, followed by the Dominican Republic with 8 liters per person.

Sojo commented that the consumption of alcohol was more prevalent among men, who drink, on average, four times more than women.

For the report, nine studies were conducted in El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Peru, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Mexico, Colombia and Brazil between 2009 and 2012.

The study reveals that the Dominican Republic is the country with the highest rate of men at long-term high risk for consumption (14.4%). Among women, the countries with the highest rate of population at high risk in the long term are the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, with rates of 5.4% and 7.7% respectively. The report can be downloaded from:

www.flacso.or.cr/fileadmin/documentos/Carpeta_2011/Publicaciones_2012/PaperEPCAv5-EN.pdf

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