Average Lithuanian consumed 11.1 litres of pure alcohol last year, according to preliminary figures from the country's statistics office, slightly down from the year before.
The figures released by Statistics Lithuania on Friday include only legally-sold alcohol per population aged 15 and above. In 2018, the average alcohol consumption was 11.2 litres.
Read more: Lithuanians world’s heaviest drinkers, new figures show
Lithuania's retailers and caterers sold 29 million litres of spirits (vodka, whiskey, brandy, etc.) last year, down by 0.1 percent from the year before.
Wine and fermented beverage sales declined by 0.2 percent to 34 million litres and beer sales inched down by 1.2 percent to 216 million litres.
Retail prices of alcoholic drinks grew by 2 percent on average in 2019, due mostly to an excise tax increase that took effect in March 2019.
The steepest price increases were for Lithuanian-made bitters (6.4 percent), vodka (6.2 percent) brandy (4.2 percent), beer (2.9 percent), and sparkly grape wine (1.7 percent). Meanwhile, whisky prices went down by 2.8 percent.
A total of 9.27 million litres of spirited alcoholic beverages were produced in Lithuania last year, turned into absolute (100 percent) alcohol. Their production volumes went down by 3.7 percent from 2018.
Read more: Most Lithuanians happy with alcohol sale restrictions – survey
Alcohol-related deaths up
Despite lower consumption of alcohol, the number of alcohol-related deaths rose for the first time since 2011, according to Statistics Lithuania.
There were 544 deaths directly caused by alcohol last year, up by 37, or 7 percent, from 2018.
Moreover, about 24,000 people were diagnosed with at least one alcohol-related condition last year. This represents a rate of 858 per population of 100,000, compared to 863 in 2018.
Statistics Lithuania says four out of ten people who died of alcohol-related causes had liver diseases, and over a quarter died from alcohol overdose. Around every eight death was linked to alcoholic cardiomyopathy.
Men were 3.5 times more likely to die from alcohol-related diseases. More deaths per population of 100,000 were recorded in rural areas than in cities, 23 and 18 respectively.
Alcohol addiction in Lithuania was 611.5 per population of 100,000.
Mean aged 45–49 accounted for the majority of alcohol-related diseases. The rate was more than three times higher among men than among women.
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