RSU researchers support evidence-based recommendations for reducing alcohol consumption in Latvia

Alcohol consumption is one of the main modifiable risk factors for mortality and disease burden worldwide. Among 15–49-year-olds, it is the leading risk factor for mortality and disability-adjusted life years.

Alcohol causes not only diagnoses directly related to excessive consumption, such as alcohol dependence and cirrhosis of the liver, but also significantly increases the risk of developing other serious diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular disease and mental health disorders. Excessive alcohol consumption also increases the likelihood of experiencing negative consequences from external factors, such as injury, traffic accidents and violence. It is important to recognise that the negative consequences of alcohol consumption affect society, not just individuals suffering from excessive consumption or addiction.

According to 2023 data from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Latvia recorded the highest level of alcohol consumption among its member states with 11.7 litres of pure alcohol consumed per person aged 15 and older. Between 2017 and 2021, statistics from the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention show a significant increase in registered alcohol consumption in Latvia, excluding the absolute alcohol consumption of tourists. The consumption of alcohol by adolescents and young people requires particular attention. Data from the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD) indicates that 35.6 % of 16-year-olds had engaged in risky drinking, defined as consuming 60 grams or more of pure alcohol in a single drinking session, within the previous 30 days. Furthermore, between 2020 and 2023, there has been an increase in the number of children and adolescents aged 10 to 17 who were hospitalised for the first time with diagnosis of ‘alcohol intoxication and harmful excessive use’.

To protect public health and reduce the adverse effects of alcohol consumption, researchers at the Institute of Public Health at Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU), led by Associate Professor Inese Gobiņa, participated in research evaluating the efficiency of implemented and planned policies aimed at reducing alcohol consumption and its associated public health burden. 

In 2020, Prof. Mindaugas Štelemėkas (Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Vilnius, Lithuania) and Prof. Jürgen Rehm (Institute for Mental Health Policy Research at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada) started to lead the project funded by the US National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, titled 'Assessing the Impact of Alcohol Control Policies on Morbidity and Mortality in Lithuania and Other Baltic Countries'. As part of the project, researchers from RSU collected and analysed the national alcohol control policies that were implemented between 1990 and 2020, with particular attention to the availability of alcoholic beverages, excise tax policy, marketing, and measures to restrict drink-driving. Additionally, secondary health data was collected and analysed using a consistent methodology to evaluate the impact of specific alcohol control policies introduced in the Baltic States and Poland on life expectancy, total mortality, cause-specific mortality and alcohol-related hospitalisations. The study concluded that excise tax increases and availability restrictions have a potential to reduce alcohol consumption and all-causes mortality, thereby increasing life expectancy. Increasing effective taxation to reduce the affordability of alcohol can deliver substantial returns by lowering mortality and morbidity rates while simultaneously increasing tax revenue. Shortening retail sales hours and raising the minimum legal drinking age are effective measures for reducing alcohol availability. Such measures can lead to a reduction in alcohol consumption and overall mortality rates, including alcohol-related mortality, within a relatively short period of time. For example, raising the minimum age threshold in Lithuania from 18 to 20 in 2018 resulted in an immediate and significant reduction in overall mortality among 18- and 19-year-olds. In Lithuania, the reduction in sales hours was associated with a significant decrease of alcohol poisoning-related emergency room visits and a change in a weekly pattern of alcohol-attributable mortality among men. These and other key findings of the study have been published in several internationally peer-reviewed scientific journals.

In 2022-2023, researchers from RSU participated in a study on alcohol consumption, its consequences, and the economic benefits of preventive measures in Latvia. The study was initiated by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Latvia and led by the Baltic International Centre for Economic Policy Studies. The study concluded that the total direct and indirect costs of alcohol-related harm in 2021 equalled 1.3–1.8 % of GDP. In Latvia, the direct costs associated with excessive alcohol consumption amounted to EUR 149.7 million in 2021, most of which were healthcare costs (EUR 56.6 million, or 37.8 % of the total). The study also concluded that raising the legal purchase age for alcohol from 18 years to 20, restricting alcohol advertising and marketing, and reducing alcohol retail sales hours would potentially contribute most to reducing direct costs associated with excessive alcohol consumption. Most experts involved in alcohol control or in the treatment of alcohol dependence and related health problems in Latvia, who were interviewed during the study, noted that the illegal alcohol market is currently relatively small and serves a specific user group. As such, it is unlikely to have a significant negative impact on the overall effectiveness of alcohol control measures in country.

For several years, the RSU Institute of Public Health has been conducting research to support Latvian health policymakers in making evidence-based decisions aimed at reducing alcohol consumption and mitigating the related health and social harms. These research activities have also attracted international recognition and support for Latvia’s planned alcohol control policy initiatives. 

Experts from the RSU Institute of Public Health have actively engaged with the Saeima (the Latvian parliament) and the Cabinet of Ministers, presenting research evidence on alcohol control policies and highlighting the World Health Organization’s ‘best buys’ - the most cost-effective measures for restricting alcohol consumption and its related harm. 

Several amendments to the law, which aimed to reduce alcohol consumption and its associated harm, came into force in Latvia on 1 August 2025. From a public health perspective, the most significant of these amendments for reducing alcohol availability is the reduction of alcohol sales hours at retail outlets, including websites and mobile applications: on weekdays and Saturdays, sales are permitted from 10:00 am to 8:00 pm, and on Sundays from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. Restricting alcohol price promotions and discount advertising may reduce the impact of alcohol marketing and, in the long term, decrease demand, particularly among price-sensitive groups, such as youth and high-risk consumers, thereby contributing to a reduction in overall consumption and alcohol-related harm.