Alcohol use in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland

Author:

National Public Health Service - Northern Region, Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora

Source:

National Public Health Service - Northern Region | Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora

Publication date:

2024

Topics:

People

A summary of regional data from the New Zealand Health Survey, 2017-2020

Executive summary

Purpose

This report summarises New Zealand Health Survey (NZHS) data on alcohol consumption for adults (aged 15+ years), pooled across the years 2017-2020, for the Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland region. This is based on the most recent data publicly available from the NZHS Regional Data Explorer. (The NZHS Regional Data Explorer is available at https://minhealthnz.shinyapps.io/nzhealth-survey-2017-20-regional-update)

Indicators of alcohol use include past-year drinking, heavy episodic drinking (at least monthly), heavy episodic drinking (at least weekly) and hazardous drinking. We described the prevalence of these indicators by age, ethnicity, gender and neighbourhood socio-economic deprivation.

Background

Alcohol causes many harms and inequities in Aotearoa New Zealand. In particular, Māori and Pacific communities have experienced more harms from being more exposed to environments in which alcohol and its marketing are widely available.

As the largest city in Aotearoa New Zealand, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland is home to diverse and growing Māori, Pacific and Asian communities, each with different levels of drinking. The annual NZHS provides insights on the patterns of alcohol use amongst New Zealanders, both nationally and regionally.