France: France’s south west has highest daily alcohol consumption, study finds

People living in the south west of France are among the heaviest drinkers in the country, according to new statistics from the public health authority, The Local France reported on January 14.

The study published by French public health body Santé publique France lists the regions of Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Occitanie in south west France as the regions with the highest daily alcohol consumption.

In Occitanie - which covers cities including Toulouse and Carcassonne - 12.6 percent of adults drink every day, while in Nouvelle-Aquitaine which covers Charente and Dordogne 12.3 percent of adults drink every day.

In third place is the northern Hauts-de-France region, where the people of Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardie labour under the stereotype of being hopeless drunks, but where in fact only 11.5 percent of adults drink daily, just over the national average of 10 percent.

Adults in Normandy and Pays-de-la-Loire drink less than the national average while the lowest level of daily drinking in mainland France is the greater Paris Île-de-France region, where only 7.1 percent of adults drink daily.

The overseas French regions of Guadeloupe (6.9 percent), French Guiana (5.2 percent), Martinique (7 percent) and Reunion Island (5.8 percent) have averages that are significantly lower than the average for mainland France.

The data also found that in the north and east of France people were more likely to drink beer, in the south wine was more common while spirits were preferred in the west.