Young Germans drink alcohol as before COVID – DW – 11/06/2024

About 30 times a year, teacher Victoria Joelle Moll visits teenagers and young adults admitted to a German hospital after drinking excessively.

She and her colleagues are especially busy during Halloween and Carnival. They often call local hospitals in the morning to find out who was admitted overnight and ask if they can come in for a chat.

“Our experience in hospitals is that no one is admitted to hospital because they’ve just had too much beer. We are talking about spirits mixed with soft drinks,” she told DW.

Moll works at Update, a specialized addiction prevention and counseling center for children, youth and parents in the German city of Bonn. The center offers talks, advice and workshops in schools to prevent young people from drinking too much.

“The younger people are, the more important it is for them not only to be aware of drugs, alcohol and their effects, but also to learn how to say no, how to relax without drugs and how to assert themselves in life,” Moll said.

Young men drink more than women

Excessive alcohol consumption has increased since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic and, according to the German Center for Health Education (BZgA), for the 18 to 25 age group it has almost returned to pre-COVID levels.

Young men, especially, drink much more. The BZgA found that 46% of those surveyed said they had drunk to the point of intoxication. Among young women, this figure dropped to 32%.

The study also found that heavy drinking among young people aged 12 to 17 also increased slightly. In this age group, 17% of boys said they had gotten drunk before, compared with 10% of girls.

By intoxication, experts mean drinking at least five glasses of alcohol for men and four for women.

Between April and June 2023, approximately 7,000 young people were surveyed as part of the Centre’s regular Drug Dependence Survey (DAS).

Alcohol is part of German life

“It is clear that these numbers are high as public spaces have been cut off during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is to be expected after the pandemic,” Moll said.

There are many explanations for alcohol use among young people. “One of the main reasons is the quick and easy availability of alcohol, especially compared to other countries,” Moll said. In Germany, 18-year-olds are allowed to buy any type of alcohol and drink it in public. It is legal to buy and drink beer and wine from the age of 16 or 17. This makes Germany, along with Austria, Belgium, Denmark and Luxembourg, one of the exceptions in Europe.

“(Drinking) also happens in different situations and holidays in our society,” Moll said. “It’s part of life, and young people also say in seminars that at 18 they finally want to drink. It’s like something off a life checklist.”

Regular drinking becomes less attractive

Despite the initially alarming figures, there is some positive news: regular drinking has become less attractive, according to a study. Only about 39% of 18- to 25-year-olds said they drink at least once a week. Among young women, this figure was 18.2%. Among boys and girls, this figure was again significantly lower.

The age at which alcohol plays a role has also changed by a year since 2004, with young people on average now having their first drink at 15 instead of 14, and getting drunk for the first time at 16.2 instead of 15.5.

Moll noted that although the number of poisoning cases has increased again, it is still lower than several years ago. “Our conversations with children and young people in hospital are still on the decline.”

Moreover, she says, going to hospital is initially a shock that can be curative for many: “In our experience, being in hospital is thought-provoking enough in itself for most people. After most conversations, you can be almost sure: this has won. It won’t happen to them again.”

This article was originally written in German.