The economic impact of the hangover on businesses

Headaches, fatigue, digestive discomfort, difficulties concentrating—there are numerous apparent symptoms associated with alcohol consumption. An uncomfortable state, yet an existing and impactful situation.

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

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

Here is a table summarizing the annual costs for different countries:

Country	Annual Cost
United States	$77 billion
Thailand	$2.8 billion
Switzerland	1.7 billion Swiss francs
United Kingdom	£1.4 billion
Canada	$1.4 billion
Australia	$450 million
Sri Lanka	$109 million

For the cost calculation, researchers took into account the cost of paid leave, as well as the cost of decreased productivity for those who still came to work.

For the specific case of the study on Australia, among approximately 9.4 million workers: 750,000 do not consume alcohol, 5.3 million have low consumption, 2.5 million have moderate consumption, and 870,000 have high alcohol consumption. 

• Low consumers took 170,000 days of leave due to hangovers, costing about $46 million
• Moderate consumers took 160,000 days of leave, costing $170 million
• High consumers took 870,000 days of leave, costing $235 million

In total, Australian workers took 1.6 million days of leave 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.

Despite awareness of the impact of alcohol consumption on health and productivity, few are willing to give it up. That's why we created HANG-OVER to combine hedonism and performance.

 

Sources:

Institute of Alcohol Studies. (2020, October). The costs of alcohol to society. Retrieved from https://www.ias.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/The-costs-of-alcohol-to-society.pdf

 

O.F.S.P. (2014, March 20). 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