Illegal liquor: Consumption may be up, but deaths show the opposite trend

India has a higher per capita consumption of illegal liquor than most countries in the neighbourhood

The news of 70 deaths due to the consumption of illegal liquor in Bihar shocked the country recently. This number is nearly a tenth of the country's total deaths from illegal liquor in 2021. India had shown a rising trend in "unrecorded" alcohol consumption even before the imposition of prohibition in Bihar in 2016.

While it is true that Indians drink less alcohol per capita than the world average, they are increasingly consuming more alcohol available outside authorised sources. Even amongst its South-Asian neighbours, after Myanmar, Indians drink more unrecorded alcohol -- described as alcohol that is not taxed and available outside the system of government control -- than any other country. As of 2016 (for which data is last available), Indians consumed about 2.6 litres of unrecorded alcohol per capita, up from 1.5 litres in 2010. In comparison, Nepal's consumption dropped from 1.9 litres in 2010 to 1.4 litres in 2016, and China's dropped from 1.7 litres per capita to 1.5 litres in the same period (see chart 1).

While consumption of illicit liquor per capita may have gone up, deaths due to such liquor, as recorded by the National Crime Records Bureau, show a falling trend amid the Covid-19 pandemic amid restrictions on movement to control its spread (see chart 2). 

The numbers for 2022, when movement restrictions were eased, will be released with a lag.