According to a survey by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, people drank more alcohol in both quantity and frequency of consumption during the world’s first coronavirus lockdowns last year.

Of around 60,000 people in 11 countries surveyed for seven weeks from May to June 2020, 43% said they drank more often than before the first wave of COVID-19, 26% said less often and 31% had not seen no change.

Thirty-six percent said their alcohol consumption had increased, while 21 percent said it had decreased and 43 percent said it was unchanged.

Stefano Scarpetta, director of employment, labor and social affairs at the OECD, said alcohol sales in restaurants and bars had fallen but home alcohol consumption had increased.

The increase in alcohol consumption may reflect high stress levels, Scarpetta said.

It was also found that the number of emergency calls regarding domestic violence increased by 60% in European Union countries during the pandemic, according to the Parisian club of 38 mostly wealthy countries.

“The lockdown and stay-at-home orders have exacerbated some of the negative behaviors associated with harmful alcohol use,” he said.

Alcoholic beverage sales and associated tax revenue increased 3-5% last year compared to 2019 in some countries like Great Britain, the United States and Germany.

The survey showed that the likelihood of binge drinking – which it defined as having more than 80 percent of a bottle of wine or 1.5 liters of beer per drinking occasion – increased by 23 percent. of respondents, but was reduced by 29 percent. Almost half responded that this had not changed.

Since late 2019, when the first outbreak of the virus was detected in the central city of Wuhan in China, many major cities have taken containment measures such as strict closures to curb the spread of the virus, forcing restaurants and bars. to close or close earlier than usual and people to stay at home.

Scarpetta warned that the reopening of the economy means that support measures for sectors and individuals affected by the pandemic will be removed, a development that could lead to further bankruptcies and unemployment, and put people at risk of s engage in “harmful drinking habits” to get rid of stress.

“It is unclear whether these changes will continue when living conditions return to normal, but experience from previous crises suggests that we may see an increase in problematic alcohol use in the medium term,” he said. he declared.

Data were collected in 10 OECD members – Australia, Austria, France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Switzerland, Great Britain and the United States – as well as Brazil, a non-member of the ‘OECD.