May 15 2014 : The Times of India (Mumbai) BOOZER'S DIARY Avg Indian male consumes 33 litres of alcohol/yr: WHO Kounteya Sinha London: TNN   An average Indian male drinker is over 15-yearold and consumes 33 litres of alcohol a year. For women, in the same age group, the average liquor consumption is 11 litres a year, says a study by the WHO. The study found that alcohol consumption not only leads to liquor dependence, but also puts people at a higher risk of developing over 200 diseases, including liver cirrhosis and some cancers. It was also found that 93% of Indians drink hard liquor -whisky or vodka while only 7% drink beer. India's wine drinking population is very low, only 1% of alcohol consumers. Though 60% of Indian men and 90% of women abstain from alcohol, drinking habits in India have increased over the last few years. WHO found that 32% of men and fewer than 11% of women in India over the age of 15 drink alcohol. On an average, every person in the world aged 15 years or older drinks 6.2 litres of pure alcohol per year. But as less than half the population (38.3%) actually drinks alcohol, it means that those who drink, consume on average 17 litres of pure liquor annually . The report also shows that a higher percentage of deaths among men than women are from alcohol-related causes. For men, the figure stands at 7.6%, and for women 4%, though there is evidence that women may be more vulnerable to some alcohol-related health conditions compared to men.