The number of people consuming alcohol is far more than those using tobacco in Nepal, the Nepal Demographic and Health Survey-2022 shows.

According to the final report of the nationwide study carried out by the Ministry of Health and Population between January 5 and June 22 last year, 42 percent of Nepali men between 15 and 49 years consume alcohol, while 11 percent of the women of the same age group had alcoholic drinks in the month preceding the survey. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) had provided the technical and financial support for the survey.

The report shows that 28 percent of men smoke tobacco compared to 5 percent of women.

Of the 3,695 respondents of the age group—2077 men and 1618 women—20 percent of men and 13 percent of women who drink alcohol said that they consume it every day or almost as frequently.

Twenty-one percent of men and 11 percent of women who consumed alcohol had three or more drinks on days when they chose to have alcohol. According to the report, one drink of alcohol corresponds to one can or bottle of beer, one glass of wine, one shot of spirit, or one cup of jaand or chhyang.

Among women who consumed alcohol, those in the mountainous region were more likely to drink it every day or almost every day. As much as 26 percent of women who drink alcohol in the mountain region are likely to have it every day, 17 percent in the hill and seven percent in the Tarai.

Among those who consumed alcohol, 25 percent of women and 32 percent of men were uneducated, respectively. Of those who consumed alcohol every day or almost every day, 51 percent of women had one drink and 37 percent of men had two drinks on days when alcohol was consumed.

The report shows that women whose current or most recent husband or intimate partner is often drunk are more likely (78 percent) to have experienced physical, sexual, or emotional violence than women whose husband or intimate partner does not drink alcohol (19 percent) or drinks but never gets drunk (15 percent).

According to the report, among both women and men who smoke, cigarettes are most common (4 percent and 27 percent, respectively). Over 14,000 women were questioned about the habit of their tobacco use in the study.

The study shows 17 percent of men smoke on a daily basis, while 11 percent smoke occasionally. Among men who smoke cigarettes, a majority (54 percent) smoke less than five cigarettes per day on average. More men use smokeless tobacco than women—35 percent versus three percent. Overall, half of men (50 percent) and only seven percent of women in Nepal use any type of tobacco.

There has been a decline since 2001 in the proportion of women who smoke any type of tobacco—from 25 percent to 5 percent. Similarly, the proportion of women who smoke cigarettes declined from 23 percent in 2001 to four percent in 2022. Among men, the proportion who smoke any type of tobacco dropped from 45 percent in 2001 to 28 percent in 2022.

The proportion of women who smoke any type of tobacco increases with age, from one percent among those in the age group of 15–19 to 13 percent in the age of 45–49. Women and men with more than secondary education (three percent and 25 percent, respectively) are less likely to use any type of tobacco compared to those with no education (16 percent and 73 percent, respectively).