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Endless Possibilities

There are endless possibilities for individuals, families, communities and society when we reduce alcohol harm. Current as well as future generations will receive the benefits. Below we list just some of the many amazing benefits that will help us uncap our potential.

Cost savings

  • Reducing alcohol harm will result in massive cost savings to society. Alcohol harm to individuals, families and society is estimated to cost around $7.85 billion per year. Lost output/productivity constitutes a major proportion of the total costs, in combination with police, justice and health costs. 
  • A study of the impacts of alcohol use on workplace productivity in New Zealand found that the annual societal costs resulting from absence and reduced performance were estimated to be $1.65 billion.
  • The great news is that these costs are avoidable when New Zealanders drink less!
  • And the savings from reduced harm can help take the pressure of our police and health sectors, allowing spending to be allocated to other essential services.
Impact of alcohol prices on cost savings
  • Studies show that increasing the price of alcohol is associated with reductions in alcohol-related diseases and injury outcomes, alcohol-impaired driving, motor vehicle crashes and injuries, death from cirrhosis, alcohol dependence, sexually transmitted infections, suicide, and violence (including rape, robbery, and violence towards children).
  • Raising the price of alcohol is the most cost-effective measure to reduce alcohol consumption (in terms of cost per health life years gained), compared to other alcohol policy interventions. 
  • The Ministry of Justice estimated that increasing alcohol excise taxes by 82% would result in net societal cost savings of $339 million in the first year and $2.45 billion over ten years. A minimum unit price of $1.20 would generate net societal savings of $86 million in the first year, and $624 million over ten years.

Every New Zealander benefits from the cost savings from reduced alcohol harm 

Safer roads

Impact of alcohol prices on road safety
  • Increases in alcohol excise tax are highly cost-effective in reducing alcohol-related road injuries. One New Zealand study found that a one-off excise increase would lead to substantial cost-savings, mainly due to reduced costs associated with lost productivity, justice/legal proceedings, and vehicle damage (combined amount $240 million). The excise increase would also generate an extra $370 million in revenue. Māori and males were found to be the main beneficiaries of reduced harm from traffic injuries following excise increases.

We can reduce the harm on our roads when we take action on alcohol

Safer communities

  • By taking action on alcohol, we can reduce the harm from alcohol to others.
  • Alcohol is responsible for a third of all violence (33%), a third of all family violence (34%), half of all sexual assaults (54%), and homicides (49.5%).
  • One New Zealand study found that 71% of respondents experienced at least one harm because of the drinking of a stranger or people they did not know very well. Half of these respondents would go out of their way to avoid drunk people and places. Nearly a third had been verbally abused by strangers, and around 15% indicated their property had been damaged.
  • New Zealanders commonly report alcohol and drug issues as key safety concerns in their communities.
  • We can have safer communities for all when New Zealanders drink less!
Impact of alcohol prices on community safety

Our communities can be safer with less alcohol harm

Safer and more productive workplaces

A safer workplace for hospital staff in emergency departments
  • Every New Zealander deserves to have a safe workplace.
  • Healthcare professionals are often at the forefront of addressing the harm from alcohol, especially those working in our busy Emergency Departments. With reduced drinking in the population, alcohol will be less of a burden on their workloads (through fewer presentations for falls, injuries, etc.) and they will experience less alcohol-related aggression, verbal and/or physical abuse.
  • A 12-month study of presentations to the Auckland City Hospital Emergency Department (ED) in 2018/19 found over 5,000 (7%) ED admissions were alcohol-related.
  • Throughout EDs department in New Zealand, staff report being assaulted, abused or intimidated by intoxicated patients. For example, a study at Wellington City Hospital found that one-half of the ED staff reported ever being assaulted by an intoxicated patient while at work. Nurses had the highest exposure to assaults. Almost all respondents described the negative impact of alcohol-related presentations on workload, waiting times and effects on other patients.
Safer workplaces and improved productivity
  • Our economy can be stronger, and employees happier, when we take strong action on alcohol.
  • Lost output is a major contributor to the costs of alcohol harm. In 2005/06, it was estimated that annual lost output due to harmful alcohol use cost $1.76 billion, which represented slightly less than one half of all tangible costs for alcohol and one third of all social costs. Three-fifths of the costs of alcohol lost output were due to excess unemployment ($1.1 billion), followed by premature death ($0.46 billion).
  • Another study of the impacts of alcohol use on workplace productivity in New Zealand found that the annual societal costs resulting from absence and reduced performance were estimated to be $1.65 billion. Co-workers experience many of the negative impacts resulting from their colleagues’ absenteeism or presenteeism due to alcohol.
Impact of alcohol prices on productivity
  • In 2014, the Ministry of Justice estimated that:
    • an 82% excise increase on alcohol products would reduce the annual costs for alcohol-related lost productivity by $59.85 million. The greatest reduction would be in the costs for unemployment, followed by the costs for impaired productivity, absenteeism, and pre-mature deaths.
    • a $1.20 minimum unit price would reduce the annual costs for alcohol-related lost productivity by $19 million. Similarly, the greatest reduction would be in the costs for unemployment, followed by the costs for impaired productivity, absenteeism, and pre-mature deaths.

With less alcohol harm, we can have safer and happier workplaces and a stronger economy

Better physical and mental health

  • Alcohol use is associated with over 200 health conditions.
  • A large body of research demonstrates the links between alcohol and poor mental health. Mental health issues may fuel alcohol use and alcohol use (particularly heavy drinking) can cause some mental health conditions.
  • Alcohol consumption certainly contributes to our country’s alarmingly high suicide rates. Alcohol-use disorders are second highest in prevalence in suicide victims, following mood disorders. In 2017, over one third (31.1%) of all New Zealanders who had committed suicide had alcohol in their system, and a further 26.2% had a trace of alcohol in either their blood or urine. A single occasion of drinking, especially at high levels, significantly increases the risk of suicide attempts.
  • Alcohol use disorders have also been found to be a major risk factor for the onset of all types of dementia, especially early-onset dementia. Alcohol consumption over time is associated with detrimental effects on brain structure.
Impact of alcohol prices on health outcomes

Our physical and mental wellbeing will improve with less alcohol harm

Fewer cancers

  • We all want fewer cancer diagnoses and deaths in New Zealand.
  • Alcohol is a Group 1 carcinogen, which means that there is sufficient evidence to conclude that alcohol causes cancer in humans. Seven types of cancer are causally related to alcohol use, including bowel, female breast cancer and liver cancer. There is no safe level of alcohol consumption with regards to cancer risk.
  • One in every 25 deaths from cancer in New Zealand are due to alcohol use (for New Zealanders aged <80 years). In relation to female breast cancer specifically, it was estimated that 14.0% of deaths in New Zealand were attributed to alcohol use.
  • In 2007, 30% of all alcohol-related deaths were from cancer. This was higher for women (44%) than men (23%).
  • Breast cancer is the leading cause of alcohol-related death among New Zealand women. More than a third of alcohol-related breast cancer deaths in New Zealand women were found to be attributable to regular alcohol use of less than two standard drinks per day.
  • There remain significant inequities in alcohol-attributable cancers. Higher proportions of cancer among Māori are due to alcohol, with an average of 12.7 years of life lost from alcohol-attributable cancer compared to 10.1 years for non-Māori.

Fewer alcohol-related cancers and more years with our loved ones

Happier families

  • Alcohol is involved in a substantial proportion of New Zealand’s high rates of family violence. It is estimated that at least one-third of the ~130,000 family violence investigations by New Zealand Police each year involve alcohol and/or drug use. This figure likely underrepresents the true prevalence, given the significant under-reporting of family violence to the police. Family violence in New Zealand is estimated to account for 41% of a frontline police officer’s time.
  • Alcohol use has been consistently found to increase the likelihood and severity of domestic violence.
  • Wahine Māori, in particular, are more likely to experience violence committed by someone under the influence of alcohol.
Impact of alcohol prices on family violence

Happier and safer relationships with less alcohol harm

Happier children

Improve child wellbeing and better child development
  • The vision of New Zealand's Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy is for "New Zealand is the best place in the world for children and young people". Alcohol harm can compromise our achievement of that vision.
  • Alcohol use is clearly implicated in family violence in New Zealand, exposing children to high levels of distress and hurt. Child wellbeing can also be compromised when hazardous drinking and alcohol-related harm affect caregivers’ work attendance and employment, exacerbating the risks of family poverty.
  • Children are at high risk of death from maltreatment when they live with caregivers who abuse alcohol. In one New Zealand study, 17% of respondents who had a heavy drinker in their life reported that their children were negatively affected (e.g., being verbally abused, witnessed violence) by this person’s drinking.
  • In the Auckland region, children have been found to be present in up to 69% of family violence incidents that were investigated by the Police.
  • Children’s exposure to family violence can have irreversible effects on children’s development. Exposure to family violence has been shown to negatively impact children’s brain development, with adverse effects on cognitive development particularly evident among children exposed to trauma in the first two years of life.
Reduced alcohol use during pregnancy and fewer New Zealanders affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD)

By reducing alcohol harm, we can help New Zealand to be the best place in the world for children and young people

Real connections

  • Many New Zealanders are impacted by heavy drinkers in their lives.
  • Less drinking will improve the wellbeing of people that surround heavy drinkers. New Zealand research has shown that persons with greater exposure to heavy drinkers in their life are less satisfied with their life, health, personal relationships, and have lower community connectedness. They also report experiencing more pain, discomfort, anxiety and
  • A New Zealand study also found that alcohol consumption has a negative association with aggregate happiness – that is, although high-risk drinkers may be a minority, their behaviour adversely affects the wellbeing of us all.
  • Alcohol is often used to mask our feelings, and anxieties about ourselves, cope with pain or self-medicate. With less drinking and less alcohol harm, we can be more accepting of healing, identify more positive ways of coping (this can also empower us), and allow proper connection not only with ourselves but with our family and people around us. This would enable a deeper (some say more authentic) connection to the things and people that are important to us.

Real, authentic connections are possible when New Zealanders drink less