A National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program study has found Australians from wealthier areas drink more alcohol than their lower socio-economic counterparts.

Those in the wealthiest socio-economic quartile consume about 33.8% more alcohol than those in the poorest quartile.

City dwellers consume an average of 14.4 litres per day per 1000 people, while outer regional and remote sites drink 18.6 litres per day per 1000 people.

The new research from The University of Queensland also found alcohol consumption dropped by approximately 4.5% in major cities and by approximately 2.5% and 3% in regional and remote areas respectively between 2016 and 2023.

Dr Ben Tscharke from UQ’s Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS) said the team analyse wastewater samples collected from 50 sites across Australia during the period, covering 50% of the population.

“We used wastewater analysis to assess long-term trends in alcohol consumption based on community socioeconomic status and remoteness,” Dr Tscharke said.

“We found alcohol consumption is more prominent in regional communities and areas with higher socioeconomic status, which includes higher levels of education, income and skilled occupation.

“This could be due to a variety of factors including affordability of alcohol and lifestyle, with Australians of a higher socioeconomic status more likely to engage in social activities that involve drinking.”

Study co-author Associate Professor Phong Thai said although there was a decline in alcohol consumption in Australia, it wasn’t consistent across population groups.

“We found the decline of alcohol consumption was steeper in cities than regional and remote areas, while there were smaller annual decreases in the most socioeconomically disadvantaged areas,” Professor Thai said.

“There’s a risk that if this trend continues it may increase Australian health inequalities, which is why it is necessary to maintain a sustained and multi-faceted effort to reduce the harms associated with alcohol consumption in more disadvantaged areas.”

Dr Tscharke said previous wastewater studies had shown that cocaine use was higher in wealthy areas, but cannabis use was higher in poorer areas.

The National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program covered sampling from August 2022 to August 2023 showed that capital city cocaine, MDA, heroin and ketamine average consumption exceeded regional consumption, while regional alcohol,
nicotine, MDMA, methylamphetamine, oxycodone, fentanyl and cannabis average consumption exceeded capital city consumption.

Drink sales slow as consumers ditch discretionary spending