Irish families are spending more of their income on alcohol than any other country in the EU, according to an analysis of the household budgets of the 27 member states.

While Irish spending on housing, health and clothing is slightly below the EU average, its citizens spend three and a half times more than the average on alcohol. Drink accounts for 4.1% of household spending, compared with an EU average of 1.2%, according to the European Commission study.

Romania and Lithuania are in second and third place, with 2.3% and 2.2% of their incomes respectively spent on alcohol. The UK’s expenditure on drink is 1.4%, with Germany on 1%. Six countries — including Spain, Italy and Portugal — spend less than 1%.

Marion Rackard, director of Alcohol Action Ireland, said that other countries already perceive Ireland as the drinking nation of Europe. “Per capita, we are one of the highest consumers in Europe. For binge drinking, especially among young girls, we are the highest in Europe and our spending is the highest,” she said.

“Even though alcohol is no ordinary commodity, a proportion of drinkers consider it to be an essential in the weekly shopping basket and are prepared to spend accordingly on it.”

Irish households commit twice as much of their budgets to alcohol as they do to education, excluding income tax contributions. Drink also accounts for a bigger proportion of expenditure than health, meat, or dining out in restaurants and cafes.

The study was based on each country’s household budgets in 2005, with Ireland’s information being gathered by the Central Statistics Office (CSO). The results were similar to the last EU-wide survey, which looked at the 1999 household budgets. It also ranked Ireland first for alcohol expenditure.

While the proportion of income spent on alcohol has fallen over the past decade, the amount of money spent on it has increased. A previous EC report found that Irish people are the EU’s biggest binge drinkers.

Three out of 10 teenagers aged 15 and 16 had been on a binge three or more times inside one month.

“The damage done is in line with spending. We were carrying on for years without knowing how we compared with Europe and now it can’t be ignored,” Rackard said.

The latest survey found that the typical Irish household spent €787.12 a week in total, with almost €35 of that going on alcohol. Households spent more money on wine than any other alcoholic beverage for drinking at home, and lager was the tipple of choice when drinking out. Urban households spent slightly more on drink than their rural counterparts, although this may be attributable to price differences.

Patrick Kelleher, the CSO statistician in charge of the household budget survey, said people often play down the amount they spend on alcohol and tobacco. “If people are drinking a lot they don’t really want to admit to it. So we weight the alcohol levels. We compare the amount people report to the amount of alcohol coming into the country,” he said.

The Drinks Industry Group of Ireland (DIGI) questioned the validity of the comparisons being made, arguing that Ireland’s high tax on alcohol accounted for a significant part of its cost. “Ireland has a younger age profile than most other European countries and has seen rapid population growth in recent years,” added a DIGI spokesman.

He pointed to a recent analysis of CSO and Revenue figures that found there was a 6.7% drop in alcohol consumption in Ireland between 2001 and 2006.

But as early as 1993, a report by the Economic and Social Research Institute concluded that alcohol consumption in Ireland was linked to income and not pricing. It predicted that economic growth would trigger a significant uptake in consumption.

Rackard said this has happened and that increasing the cost of alcohol is the best way to combat its damaging effects. “The government has continued to allow alcohol to be too affordable. The price of alcohol hasn’t gone up with inflation,” she said.

“The government hasn’t increased excise duty since 2003 when the tax on alcopops [such as Smirnoff Ice, Bacardi Breezer and WKD Original Vodka] was increased, and that did help to reduce their consumption.”

Beer has been the most popular alcoholic drink in Ireland for more than 20 years, but wine has grown from 6% of the market in 1986 to 21% in 2006. Spirits have seen the biggest rise in excise duty and their market share fell from 23% in 1986 to 19% in 2006.

The European Commission survey also found that Ireland spent a greater proportion of its income than the EU average on recreation and culture, hotels and restaurants, newspapers, books and education. It spent a smaller percentage than average on health, housing, clothing and meat. The biggest proportion of Irish income went on housing, at 30.1%, reflecting the high cost of property. This was followed by food, beverages and tobacco, a combined total of 18%.

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