The Centers for Disease Control published a report on Friday about the escalation of binge drinking in the United States. 37 million Americans binge drink once a week. And the total number of drinks they consume is getting higher and higher, jumping from 472 drinks a year in 2011, to 529 drinks in 2017.
The CDC reports that excessive drinking kills one in 10 Americans between the ages of 20 and 64 years. In 2010, over 88,000 Americans died from alcohol misuse, a number that researchers believe is an undercount. That includes over 14,000 who died from alcoholic liver disease and over 12,000 who died in car crashes. In another study, researchers from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism have determined that alcohol-related deaths have increased 50% over the last two decades.
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The Business of Alcohol
Alcohol is a big business, worth over $1.4 trillion worldwide. The largest public companies in this sector include AmBev (ABEV -3.28%), a $70 billion Brazilian company whose brands include Budweiser and Corona and Constellation Brands (STZ -0.29%), a $36 billion liquor company that sells beer, wine, and spirits.
So far the alcohol industry has avoided the heavy regulation that has affected "sin" stocks like tobacco. For instance, alcohol can still advertise on television. The alcohol industry spends over $2 billion on advertising in the U.S.
AmBev has committed to spending $1 billion dollars to promote "smart drinking," which includes the avoidance of binge drinking and driving while intoxicated. The alcohol industry has commissioned a study that says that binge drinking is on the decline.
