Economic Impacts

Alcohol use also has an economic impact, resulting in lost productivity, and places a burden on healthcare, law enforcement, and the judiciary. In 2010, the estimated financial burden of alcohol use in Australia was $14.4 billion, more than double the $7.1 billion generated in alcohol-related tax revenue. The greatest contributors to economic burden include lost productivity ($6.1 billion), traffic accidents ($3.7 billion), criminal justice ($3.0 billion), and healthcare ($7.7 billion). While these estimates are likely conservative, as it does not estimate the economic impacts on others, estimates in 2005 suggest that harms to others due to alcohol cost Australia $6.8 billion.