ESPAD average
Cigarette use (%) a
  Average Min. Max.
Lifetime 80 35 96
Last 30 days 48 9 76
Intoxication b 46 6 32
a Percentage of students reporting use of alcohol.
b Percentage of students having been intoxicated at least once in the last 30 days.

Lifetime

In all ESPAD countries except Iceland (35 %), over half of the students have drunk alcohol at least once during their lifetime (Table 6). The ESPAD average was 80 % (range: 35-96 %). The highest rates of lifetime alcohol prevalence (93 % or more) were found in the Czech Republic, Greece and Hungary. In addition to Iceland, countries with relatively low rates (60 % or less) were Albania, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Norway. Large differences between boys and girls were observed in Albania (71 % versus 51 %), the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (64 % versus 51 %) and Montenegro (83 % versus 72 %). A higher proportion for girls than boys was found in Belgium (Flanders) (83 % versus 77 %).

Last 30 days

Overall, 48 % of the students in the ESPAD countries had consumed alcohol during the 30 days prior to the survey. In Austria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark and Greece, two thirds (66 %) or more had done so. A particularly low prevalence rate was reported from Iceland (9 %). All of the Nordic countries except Denmark reported relatively low rates (below 40 %). This was also the case for Albania, Estonia, the Faroes, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Ireland, Lithuania and Ukraine. On average, more boys than girls have drunk alcohol during the 30 days prior to the survey. Countries with particularly large gender differences in this direction (18-20 percentage points) were Albania, Georgia, Montenegro and Romania. In four countries, more girls than boys (5 percentage points and more) reported alcohol use during the last 30 days (Sweden, the Faroes, Monaco and Norway).

Intoxication

An average of 13 % of students reported having been intoxicated during the last 30 days. Denmark had the highest prevalence at almost one third of the students (32 %). Countries with levels of 10 % or less were Albania, Estonia, the Faroes, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Georgia, Greece, Iceland, Moldova, Montenegro, Norway, Portugal, Sweden and Ukraine. On average, slightly more boys (13 %) than girls (12 %) reported that they had been intoxicated during the 30 days prior to the survey, with the highest differences in Cyprus (19 % for boys and 10 % for girls), Romania (16 % versus 7 %) and Montenegro (12 % versus 4 %). In the Faroes and Malta, noticeably more girls than boys reported intoxication.

Table 6. Alcohol use: prevalence of lifetime use, 30-day use and intoxication (percentage)

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Country Lifetime use 30-day use Intoxication last 30 days Lifetime use 30-day use Intoxication
Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls
Albania 60 32 7 71 51 42 23 10 4
Austria 88 68 21 86 90 67 69 22 19
Belgium (Flanders) 80 56 12 77 83 55 58 11 12
Bulgaria 86 59 17 88 85 60 57 20 14
Croatia 92 55 16 94 91 60 49 17 14
Cyprus 88 68 14 90 87 72 63 19 10
Czech Republic 96 68 15 95 97 70 67 18 12
Denmark 92 73 32 93 92 74 73 31 32
Estonia 86 38 8 87 86 36 39 8 7
Faroes 81 38 10 84 78 35 41 7 13
Finland 74 32 13 75 72 32 32 13 13
FYR Macedonia a 57 38 8 64 51 45 32 10 6
France 84 53 13 85 83 56 51 14 12
Georgia 85 43 10 86 83 53 33 13 7
Greece 94 66 10 95 93 68 65 11 9
Hungary 93 55 20 94 92 59 52 21 19
Iceland 35 9 3 36 33 9 10 3 3
Ireland 74 35 13 72 75 34 36 14 13
Italy 84 57 13 85 84 60 53 14 13
Liechtenstein 89 59 17 93 86 60 59 19 16
Lithuania 87 34 11 85 89 32 36 10 11
Malta 86 54 14 84 88 52 56 12 17
Moldova 82 56 8 86 78 62 50 11 5
Monaco 89 54 17 88 90 52 57 15 18
Montenegro 78 40 8 83 72 50 31 12 4
Netherlands 73 49 14 73 73 50 49 13 16
Norway 57 22 8 56 58 20 25 8 9
Poland 83 47 11 84 83 49 46 12 11
Portugal 71 42 9 73 70 43 41 9 9
Romania 78 47 12 84 72 56 38 16 7
Slovakia 91 49 13 90 91 48 51 12 13
Slovenia 89 52 14 90 88 55 50 14 14
Sweden 65 26 9 64 66 22 29 7 11
Ukraine 84 39 9 82 86 38 40 9 8
AVERAGE 80 48 13 81 79 49 46 13 12
Latvia 89 44 12 88 90 42 45 14 11
Spain 78 65 21 76 80 63 68 20 21
United States 47 22 10 44 50 21 22 10 10

a Official name former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.