According to the National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5), 2019-21, the consumption of Alcohol among both men and women is high. The survey found that overall, 1 per cent of women aged 15 and over drink alcohol as compared to the 19 per cent of men in the same age group. The break up adds to 1.6 per cent in the rural and 0.6 per cent amongst the urban women, and 19.9 per cent and 16.5 per cent amongst men respectively.
Amongst all the states, Arunachal Pradesh has the highest proportion of women (24 per cent) and men (53 per cent) who drink alcohol. In women, Arunachal Pradesh is followed by Sikkim which stands at 16 per cent, while in men, Telangana stands at 43 per cent. Apart from Arunachal and Telangana, the consumption of alcohol is high among men, which stands at 40 per cent and above in Assam’s upper Brahmaputra region, districts in Jharkhand and Bastar region of Chhattisgarh, as well as Chhota Nagpur region of Jharkhand and Odisha.
The alcohol consumption level among men is 30-40 per cent in parts of Tripura, Manipur, Meghalaya, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and a few districts of Odisha. It is below 30 per cent in the remaining parts of India and the lowest in Lakshadweep which stands at 0.4 per cent.
Alcohol is consumed more among those from the Scheduled Tribes compared to any other caste/tribe groups, wherein it is 6 per cent of women among STs and 33 per cent amongst men. In terms of religious groups, the proportion of men that drink alcohol is higher among those belonging to “other religions” (47 per cent), 28 per cent for those in Christians, 24.5 per cent Buddhist/Neo-Buddhist, 23 per cent Sikhs, 20 per cent Hindu, 5.9 per cent Jains and 5 per cent Muslims.