Atheistic Estonia and alcoholism

In 2013, it was estimated that around 60,000 Estonians, 11 percent of working-age men and 12 percent of working-age women were alcohol dependents.

Estonia is one of the least religious areas in the world. Merely 14% of the population declared religion an important part of their daily lives.

In 2013, the news organization Postimees declared:

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Around 60,000 Estonians, 11 percent of working-age men and 12 percent of working-age women, are estimated to be alcohol dependents. Less than 10 percent of them are receiving treatment for their problem. In 2011, 1,440 alcohol-related deaths were recorded in this country, of them almost 80 percent among men in whose case death from drinking mostly occurs at their most productive age.

”

In 2007, the BBC declared:

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The Estonian government plans to raise taxes on alcohol by 30% next year as the small Baltic nation of 1.3 million is struggling with a drink problem. The BBC's Baltic correspondent Laura Sheeter examines the effects of heavy drinking in Estonia and neighbouring Finland, where Baltic booze cruises remain popular... Heavy drinking is widespread in Estonia, which comes near the top of European Union rankings for alcohol consumption. Consumers are now free to choose from a huge variety of brands - a dramatic change since Soviet times. On average each Estonian drinks 12 litres of pure alcohol each year - and every year they are drinking more. Experts say alcohol kills between 1,500 and 2,000 people a year - in one of the EU's smallest member states. Some warn that if the trend continues, alcohol will contribute to an irreversible population decline.

”

See also

• Atheism and alcoholism

• Secular Europe and alcoholism

• Soviet Union and alcoholism

• Atheism and health