Alcohol Consumption and Cirrhosis Mortality in the Industrialised Countries Since 1950

Before 1975 or 1980, there was a substantial increase in the consumption of alcohol throughout the industrialised countries. Thereafter, trends in the various countries began to diverge. In the Mediterranean countries and the Anglo-Saxon countries bordering the Pacific, consumption underwent a decline; it remained relatively stable in most of the Central and Northern European countries, whilst in the former socialist countries and certain Northern European countries, it continued to rise. Cirrhosis mortality has followed changes in the consumption trends of the main alcoholic beverage or that of spirits (when a certain consumption threshold is exceeded). Before 1980, the increase in alcohol consumption primarily involved men and, today, excess male mortality is higher than it was forty years ago, despite a slight convergence between male and female mortality rates. In several North or Central European countries, excessive alcohol consumption is presently slowing down the decline of the general death rates. In Eastern Europe, it is one of the basic factors responsible for the stagnation or even upturn of mortality rates.