Despite the widely held view that the Portuguese drink sensibly, blending moderate wine consumption with the healthy Mediterranean diet, the figures show a different picture as 3% of the population "have a consumption level considered high risk or harmful."
The number of registered alcoholics in treatment at the end of 2014 was just shy of 12,000 but health experts agree that the realistic figure is nearer 60,000 people in need of treatment.
The numbers have been rising steadily each year with 14% more registered alcoholics at the end of 2014 than at the start of the decade, 2014 being the last full year of analysis.
There is a new report of course, "The country's situation on alcohol issues" released on Wednesday by the Serviço de Intervenção nos Comportamentos Aditivos e nas Dependências (SICAD), which states that for alcohol-dependent patients, "in recent years there has been an increased trend in the number of clients in treatment, in the last three years recording the highest numbers of new and readmitted clients."
On a cheerier note, the deputy director general of SICAD, Manuel Cardoso, said the rise in numbers does not reflect a worsening of the problem, but a greater accessibility of treatment services,
"What happens is that there are more people asking for help and a greater responsiveness from services to treat them," - an endorsement of government services for those that seek help.
The truth is that the total number of registered alcohol-dependent patients in Portugal is higher each year, but estimates of the national total are of course higher as many fail to seek help.
"We estimate that more than 60,000 Portuguese are dependent or almost dependent. These are people who are not in treatment but who clearly need help," said Cardoso.
In addition to these, the report says that there are still about 300,000 Portuguese (approximately 3% of the population) "with a consumption considered high risk or harmful."
The number of admissions for alcohol-related problems is also increasing with 34,272 hospital admissions attributable to alcohol consumption in 2014, 1.4% more than in the previous year.
Alcohol kills significantly more than recreational drugs as 44 Portuguese died from alcohol in the study year, 11 more than those registered as dying from a drug overdose.
When associated problems are added to the diagnosis the figures start to cause serious concern with cirrhosis of the liver killing 2,301 (2.15% of all deaths) and 270 dying in car accidents as a direct result of being drunk behind the wheel.
"People have a perception of risk associated with drugs that is far worse than for alcohol when, in fact, alcohol is a drug that is the same or more dangerous than the others. In total, it is estimated that 11% of men and 4% of women die from causes directly or indirectly related to alcohol," said Rui Tato Marinho, a hepatologist at the Santa Maria Hospital in Lisbon.
According to Marinho, two to three alcoholic drinks* in the case of man and one to two in the case of the woman is the maximum recommended daily intake, far in excess of the UK recommendations of six pints a week or six glasses of wine.
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*An ‘imperial’ of beer (22 cl) is the equivalent to a 12cl glass of wine, or a 3cl shot of whisky and all count as one 'drink'.
