Nepal STEPS Survey 2019 Alcohol Consumption and Policy Fact Sheet

NEPAL–NCDs risk factors STEPS Survey 2019 – Tobacco Factsheet

Nepal STEPS Survey 2019 Alcohol Consumption and Policy Fact Sheet

National NCD risk factor survey (WHO-STEP survey) 2019, Nepal

Alcohol consumption patterns among adults (15-69 years)

• 72.2% of adults (56% men and 86.5% women) were lifetime abstainers, with significant differences between men and women Only 4% of the adults were former drinkers (drank in past but did not consume in past 12 months).
• 23.9% of adults (38.6% of men, 10.8% of women) were current drinkers (consumed alcohol in the past 12 months). This was equivalent to 4.8 million adults (3.7 million men and 1.1 million women) in 2019.
• Almost 1 in 8 men (11.7%) drink daily or almost daily. This was equivalent to 1.4 million adults (1.1 million men and 0.3 million women).

Heavy episodic drinking

• 6.8% of adults (12.4% of men, 1.7% of women) engaged in heavy episodic drinking (consumed 6 standard drinks or 60g of pure alcohol or more drinks on any single occasion in the past 30 days). This was equivalent to 1.1 million adults in Nepal in 2019.
• More than one-fourth (28.4%) of current drinkers (32.2% men, 16.2% women) engaged in heavy episodic drinking.

Consumption of unrecorded alcohol

• Among current drinkers (past 30 days), 65.3% of men, 77.3% of women, and 68.5% overall reported consuming unrecorded alcohol in past 7 days.
• Unrecorded alcohol constitutes almost 66.3% of total alcohol consumed in the past 7 days. Majority of the unrecorded alcohol comprises of homebrewed spirits (Aila/Raksi) (57.4%) or wines (Jaad) (36.7%). Alcohol smuggled over the border constitutes 5.7% of total unrecorded alcohol.

Most common types of alcohol consumed

• Raksi-a traditional homebrewed spirit-was the most consumed alcoholic drink reported by 50.9% of people who consumed alcohol in past 30 days, followed by Jaad (home-brewed wine) (24.5%).

Access to alcohol

• Only 1 in 10 (11.8%) people who ever consumed alcohol perceived obtaining alcohol for drinking difficult or very difficult.
• Only 1 in 3 ever drinker (27.9%) perceived that alcohol has become less affordable than before.
• None of the underage respondents (15-18 years of age) who tried to buy alcohol reported that they were refused alcoholic beverages due to their age. The legal minimum purchasing age for alcohol is 18 years in Nepal.

Exposure to advertising and marketing and anti-alcohol messages

• Nearly 1 in 5 respondents (18.7%) noticed advertisements promoting alcohol on the television, print media, radio etc., though a decree issued in 1999 bans alcohol advertising in all electronic media (TV and radio)
• More than 1 in 5 respondents (21.9%) who attended social events such as sports events, fairs, concerts, etc.) saw alcohol advertisements or got free beer/discounted alcohol sometimes/most of the times/always.
• Nearly 1 in 2 (47.9%) reported seeing or hearing any messages that discourage drinking alcohol.

Drink-driving

• Only 3.9% percent of who drove a vehicle in the past 12 months reported being checked by a traffic police for alcohol while driving.
• Almost 17.2% of reported that they drove vehicle under the influence of alcohol in the past 30 days.

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NEPAL–NCDs risk factors STEPS Survey 2019 – Tobacco Factsheet

Nepal STEPS Survey 2019 Alcohol Consumption and Policy Fact Sheet

National NCD risk factor survey (WHO-STEP survey) 2019, Nepal