Across the world there are a growing number of people suffering from alcohol addiction, and for a long period of time it’s been at crisis point. For many, the stress of what’s going on in the world, from the pandemic through to the War in Ukraine, cost-of-living crisis and climate crisis has only accelerated their problem drinking, leaving them not only in trouble with their health, but with their finances too.

In the USA, the cost of excessive alcohol usage has reached way beyond $250 billion, while in the UK it’s costing the NHS a staggering £3.5 billion, but what about your own pocket?

Drinking too much, and worse still becoming addicted to alcohol can have a severe impact on your pocket, with a new study revealing the true cost of alcohol abuse and addiction.

The Average vs The Addicted

Across a five year period it’s believed that a casual drinker will spend around £4,285 on beer if that is their tipple of choice. Of course, given the rising cost of purchasing alcohol, that will likely rise over the coming years.

For wine drinkers, the figure is naturally higher at around £10,842 across the five year window, with spirit drinkers spending around £8,294 and cocktail drinkers just shy of that at £7,509.

However, you’ll be able to see just how much more those that have a problem with alcohol are spending. For binge drinkers, wine lovers will be spending around £16,263 on wine, that’s over half of the average annual UK salary, while beer lovers will be spending close to £11,000, with spirit and cocktail drinkers spending just over £13,000 a piece over a five year period.

That’s of course a significant amount more than a casual drinker, but those with a substance use disorder are spending an astronomical fee according to the study, which used ONS data.

According to the study, wine drinkers who have a problem with alcohol are spending £75,895 over a five year period, and when you put that into the context of the average UK salary, you’re looking at over 50% of money earned in that period going on alcohol.

For beer lovers, the figure is around half of what is spent on wine, while cocktail drinkers and spirit drinkers with an alcohol addiction, spend between £60,000 and £65,000.

That can cause huge financial problems for people, and while rehab may seen expensive for many, when you put it into the context of how much is being spent on alcohol, a trip to an alcohol rehab seems almost cheap, as well as being a step that will help with not only the health issues surrounding alcohol addiction, but the financial ones long term too.