High number of alcohol addicts in central Germany

According to an extrapolation, more than 184,930 people in Thuringia, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt have recently received medical treatment for alcohol addiction. This is the result of an analysis by the Institute for Health System Research of the Barmer health insurance company, which used data from Barmer policyholders who received a confirmed diagnosis of "mental and behavioral disorders caused by alcohol" in 2023. Compared to 2018, around 11,000 more people in Thuringia, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt would have received the diagnosis.

People in the second half of life are particularly frequently affected. Around 40,620 men and 11,680 women between the ages of 55 and 64 were diagnosed with alcohol addiction in the three states during the period in question, it said. "The actual number of people affected will be much higher. It is time to critically question the social trivialization of alcohol in this country," said Birgit Dziuk, regional managing director of Barmer in Thuringia.

Alcohol addiction is a destructive disease with far-reaching consequences for health, the psyche, social relationships and career prospects. Despite the serious consequences, the problem is often underestimated and tabooed. Alcohol is easily accessible and therefore widespread in society, which makes it difficult to recognize and treat addiction at an early stage, the report continued.

Great regional differences in alcohol addiction

According to Barmer, more than 1.4 million people across Germany were undergoing treatment for alcohol addiction. According to the analysis, however, there are major regional differences. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Saxony, for example, the proportion of people suffering from alcoholism is over a third higher than the national average. In 2023, around 2.6 and 2.3 percent of the population there were treated for alcohol addiction. The national average is just under 1.7 percent. In Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia, the rates are around 2.2 and 2.1 percent respectively, which is also significantly higher than the national average.

The considerable regional differences in alcohol addiction cannot be explained by medical factors alone, according to Dziuk. Social and demographic factors are also likely to play a role given the different rates.