A new report has found that people in B.C. are drinking less alcohol, but it is still slightly more than the national average.
The report, released by the Office of the Provincial Health Officer, provides the latest trends about alcohol consumption.
“When it comes to drinking alcohol, less is best,” Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer, said in a release on Wednesday.
“Drinking less alcohol is better for overall health, as has been confirmed by research and alcohol guidance in Canada. While it is important for people to be able to make informed decisions about alcohol, government has a key role to play in addressing factors that shape drinking behaviour through policy shifts.”
The latest trends in B.C. show that people are drinking less in recent years, consuming an average of 8.8 standard drinks a week, as of 2023, which is higher than the national average of 8.2 drinks a week.
The recommended standard is one to two drinks a week to avoid most alcohol-related health risks.
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In B.C., the report found that male seniors consume the most alcohol, with an average of 15 standard drinks per week, and this group has a higher rate of alcohol-attributable deaths and hospitalizations than the rest of the population.
Alcohol use spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic, the report states, and has now reached a 20-year low in B.C. and youth are drinking less.
However, 38 per cent of youth aged 12 to 19 report having tried alcohol.
“We’re seeing a shift toward lower overall alcohol use, which is encouraging from a health perspective,” said Dr. Martin Lavoie, deputy provincial health officer, in a release.
“But people in B.C. are still drinking more than the national average. That’s why it’s important to keep focusing on population-level measures like helping people understand the health impacts of alcohol, so they can make informed choices.”
The Interior, Northern and Island Health regions have the highest levels of drinking per person, the report states.
The report offers recommendations to the government to help make people more aware of the health risks of alcohol and to implement changes at the point of sale, such as requiring warning labels on packaging and adjusting the price of alcohol so that it is based on alcohol content rather than volume.
The report states that drinking less at any age can lead to better health outcomes.
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