This is how Finland drinks

The drinking of more than half a million people exceeds risk limits

Total consumption of alcohol in Finland increased up to 2007, and since then has decreased by nearly a fifth. Hazardous alcohol use is nevertheless still common: According to a survey of drinking habits, the alcohol consumption of at least 13% of the population is sufficient to increase their long-term health risks. This is equivalent to 560,000 Finns. 

The risk limit applied in this context is the moderate risk limit of 7 units or more for women and 14 units or more for men per week. 

Binge drinking and its associated risks are even more common: 57% of the population have exceeded the drinking limit (at least five units in succession) at least once during the preceding year. Of total alcohol consumption, 78% is classed as hazardous use, meaning that it is either consumed by problem users or is consumed in situations where the drinking limit is exceeded. 

Even of those alcohol users with a high risk of long-term adverse health effects, the majority, or 58 per cent, consider themselves moderate users. People’s understanding of the risk caused by their own alcohol use may therefore be distorted. As a result, prevention based solely on an individual’s own sense of risk can only reach a fraction of those at risk. On the other hand, 40 per cent of high-risk users had attempted to reduce their alcohol consumption during the previous year, either successfully or unsuccessfully. This result indicates that some high-risk users also acknowledge their need for having their alcohol consumption better under control, and this can be supported by disseminating information on risk levels and providing risk users with brief counselling in the service system.