Malta with lowest alcohol consumption rate in the EU

According to the report the countries of southern Europe - Malta, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain - have a Mediterranean drinking pattern characterised by almost daily drinking of alcohol - often wine with meals. "The overall volume of consumption has traditionally been high, except in Cyprus and Malta," said the report.

The report shows that Cypriots consume 9.3 litres per capita compared to the EU average of 12.4. Greece with 10.5 and the UK with 12.5.

Alcohol consumption in Europe is highest in the central-eastern and eastern countries and lowest in the Nordic countries.

But the Nordic countries and eastern Europe have seen an increase in adult per capita consumption, whereas western and southern Europe have experienced a decrease. Beer is the most prominent alcoholic beverage in almost all regions. Only in southern Europe does wine remain the most frequently consumed alcoholic drink, but even in southern Europe, the consumption of wine has been decreasing at a high rate.

It is estimated 13.9 per cent of all deaths in men and 7.7 per cent of all deaths in women across the bloc are alcohol attributed.

"And even in the region with the relatively lowest burden, southern Europe, about 9.2 per cent and 6.5 per cent of all deaths in men and women, respectively, are due to alcohol.

"This means that in the European region which has the lowest alcohol-attributable burden, more than one in every 11 male deaths and one in every 16 female deaths are due to alcohol," said the report. In some central-eastern and eastern European countries, the rate is twice this.