The Economic Impact of Hangovers on Businesses

Headaches, fatigue, digestive discomfort, difficulty concentrating, there are many visible symptoms linked to alcohol consumption. An uncomfortable state, but a real and impactful one.

Did you know that depending on the country, hangovers cost businesses anywhere from hundreds of millions to several billion dollars a year? 

Indeed, numerous studies have looked into the economic impact of hangovers on businesses.

Here's a table summarising the annual costs for different countries:

 

Country	Cost per year
United States	$77 billion
Thailand	$2.8 billion
Switzerland	CHF 1.7 billion
United Kingdom	£1.4 billion
Canada	$1.4 billion
Australia	$450 million
Sri Lanka	$109 million

To calculate the cost, researchers factored in the cost of paid leave, as well as the cost of the drop in productivity for those who came to work. 

 

For the specific case of the Australian study, out of a sample of around 9.4 million workers:

750,000 don't drink alcohol, 5.3 million are light drinkers, 2.5 million are moderate drinkers and 870,000 are heavy drinkers. 

• - Light drinkers took 170,000 days of leave due to hangovers, at a cost of around $46 million
• - Moderate drinkers took 160,000 days of leave, at a cost of $170 million
• Heavy drinkers took 870,000 days of leave, at a cost of $235 million

In total, Australian workers took 1.6 million days off to recover from alcohol consumption, generating a cost of around $450 million for businesses.

Hangovers therefore cause a significant slowdown in business productivity, resulting in substantial monetary costs.

While there's growing awareness of the impact of alcohol consumption on health and productivity, few people want to give it up.

 

Sources:

 

Institute of Alcohol Studies. (2020, octobre). The costs of alcohol to society. Consulté à l’adresse https://www.ias.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/The-costs-of-alcohol-to-society.pdf

 

O.F.S.P. (2014, 20 mars). Les coûts sociaux liés à l’alcool pèsent avant tout sur les entreprises et l’économie. https://www.bag.admin.ch/bag/fr/home/das-bag/aktuell/medienmitteilungen.msg-id-52357.html

 

Ranaweera, S., et al. (2018). Economic costs of alcohol use in Sri Lanka. PLOS ONE, 13(6), e0198640. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0198640

 

Roche, A., et al. (2015). Alcohol- and drug-related absenteeism : a costly problem. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 40(3), 236‑238. https://doi.org/10.1111/1753-6405.12414

 

Sacks, J. J., Gonzales, K. R., Bouchery, E. E., Tomedi, L. E., & Brewer, R. D. (2015). 2010 National and State Costs of Excessive Alcohol Consumption. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 49(5), e73‑e79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2015.05.031

 

Single, E., et al. (1998). The economic costs of alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs in Canada, 1992. Addiction, 93(7), 991‑1006. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1360-0443.1998.9379914.x

 

Thavorncharoensap, et al. (2010). The economic costs of alcohol consumption in Thailand, 2006. BMC Public Health, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-10-323

 

Wiese, J. G., et al. (2000). The Alcohol Hangover. Annals of Internal Medicine, 132(11), 897. https://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-132-11-200006060-00008