Austria is therefore one of the six countries with the highest alcohol consumption and therefore above the OECD average. The leader is Latvia.
Austrians are a drinking people: this is demonstrated by the current comprehensive health report “Health at a Glance” from the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development). There, Austria (ex aequo with Estonia) is among the six countries with the highest alcohol consumption, with a per capita consumption of 11.1 liters per year. Only Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Lithuania and Latvia drank more.
Latvia leads the ranking with 12.2 liters per capita. The OECD average, on the other hand, is 8.6 liters per capita. The report regularly collects extensive data on the state of the healthcare system in the 38 member countries and on the health of the population. This report largely used 2021 data or used the most recent data available. According to the OECD, information is always based on pure alcohol. The data comes from the respective countries. Methods for converting drinks into pure alcohol can vary from country to country, the report states.
More smokers than average
When it comes to the proportion of smokers, Austria is also around 21 percent, above the OECD average of 16 percent. Austria, on the other hand, is below average when it comes to the proportion of overweight people in the total population. The corresponding value here is 16.6, the OECD average is 18.4 percent.
At 4.6 percent, the prevalence of diabetes in Austria is slightly below the OECD comparative figure of 7 percent. At 81.3 years, life expectancy is also around a year above the OECD average. The population’s satisfaction with healthcare is also high, summarizes the report. Austria is also well above the OECD average when it comes to spending. This represents 11.4% of gross domestic product, he said. There was also a need to catch up in terms of supply in the private sector and digitalization. “We are now addressing precisely these issues with the healthcare reform, which we are currently finalizing after almost a year of negotiations”, emphasized Health Minister Johannes Rauch (Greens) in a broadcast on Tuesday. The report certifies that Austria’s healthcare system is of high quality but comes with high costs, he said. (APA)