This report, which has been made since 2006, is carried out in the capitals of the 26 Brazilian states and the Federal District. Regarding alcohol consumption by the Brazilian population, Vigitel presents the following data:

1 - How is alcohol abuse among the Brazilian population in 2023?

The new Vigitel 2023 report (with data collected from December 2022 to April 2023) points to an increase in alcohol abuse when compared to previous years. Alcohol abuse in the general population increased from 18.4% to 20.8% between 2021 and 2023. Among males, this increase went from 25% to 27.3% in the period, and among females this increase was from 12.7% to 15.2%. The graph below presents data for the years 2021 and 2023, as well as information referring to 2010. When comparing the years 2010 and 2023, it is noted that there was a significant increase in abusive consumption among women, while, among men, stability is observed. This increase in consumption by women is reflected in the general increase perceived throughout the period, being a special point of attention.

2 - How is the report of drinking and driving among the Brazilian population in 2023?

There was a small increase in reported drinking and driving from 2021 to 2023, as shown in the graph below. In general terms, the portion of the population that reported drinking and driving grew from 5.4% to 5.9%. This increase was from 9.7% to 10.1% in males, and from 1.7% to 2.2% in females. The prevalence rates in 2023, however, continue to be lower than those in 2011, not contradicting the stability observed over the last decade.

However, these data are a warning sign that show few changes in relation to the population's drinking and driving behavior over the 15 years of “Dry Law” (prohibition of drinking and driving). Even though a significant reduction in deaths in traffic accidents attributable to alcohol was observed from 2010 to 2021, this stability in the reporting of drinking and driving highlights the steep process of educating the population about the incompatibility between drinking and driving.

As in the 2020 and 2021 editions of Vigitel, the current publication recommends caution when comparing data, as there was a concentration in data collection time (from December/2022 to April 2023) and reduction in sampling. Furthermore, the Vigitel methodology will undergo a significant adjustment in its 2024 version, as warned by the Ministry of Health:

“Vigitel 2023 will be the last edition of the publication before undergoing adjustments to its methodology to improve the survey data and analysis. The main changes for the next edition will be: the migration of interviews mostly to cell phones, further reducing calls to landlines; the inclusion of race/color sampling, based on IBGE population data; and an increase in the number of towns sampled, no longer interviewing only residents of capitals, in order to better represent the situation of each State of the Federation”.

On the one hand, it makes comparing the historical series even more difficult. On the other hand, this difficulty is mitigated by the fact that the changes are extremely welcome, as they incorporate relevant information for the analysis of alcohol abuse, in addition to expanding the sample and adapting to changes in communication technology.

*Vigitel is the acronym for “Surveillance System for Risk and Protective Factors for Chronic Diseases by Telephone Survey”