Alcohol

Loop’s workforce health survey asked how often people drink alcohol. Most reported never drinking; among those who drank, occasional use was far more common than a weekly routine. The overall drinking share changed little between editions: 37.3% this year compared with 38.7% in WHI 2025.

Drinking frequency is self-reported; the survey does not measure quantity, binge drinking or dependence. Figures count responses, including repeat submissions, from a largely salaried, IT-sector and male sample—not all Indian workers. Methodology.

Fewer than one in twelve reported drinking weekly#

Of the 2,702 answers reporting any drinking, 2,140 described drinking less than once a week. The remaining 562 reported a weekly habit. Frequency separates these patterns; the survey did not ask how much was consumed on each occasion.

Men reported weekly drinking at 3.4 times the rate of women#

The male rate also increases across the age groups in this sample: from 6.8% in the 20s to 10.7% in the 30s, 14.6% in the 40s and 14.7% in the 50s. The female estimates remain lower in every age group, ranging from 2.0% to 4.9%. The female estimate at ages 50–59 is based on 81 answers.

Weekly drinking reaches 14.9% in the highest income band#

The pattern is uneven rather than a steady rise. The ₹10–40 lakh bands sit close together, from 8.8% to 9.5%, before the rate reaches 14.9% in the ₹40 lakh-plus group. That top estimate is based on 141 valid answers.

Weekly drinking is nearly twice as common in the high-stress group#

Weekly drinking was reported by 10.3% of people in the high-stress group, compared with 5.4% in the low-stress group.

Kolkata and Delhi NCR report the highest weekly rates#

Among named cities with at least 200 valid alcohol answers, Kolkata and Delhi NCR were the only two above 10%. The other five ranged from 6.5% to 7.6%.

Kolkata’s result comes from a smaller base than the results for Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune.

Nicotine use rises sharply with drinking frequency#

Among people who answered both questions, nicotine use was reported by 4.9% of non-drinkers, 32.6% of occasional drinkers and 58.0% of weekly drinkers.

The gradient is large: nicotine use moves from one in twenty among non-drinkers to more than half among weekly drinkers. Alcohol and nicotine act on some of the same receptors in the brain—proteins through which nerve cells receive chemical signals. Researchers have studied this overlap as one possible explanation for their frequent co-use (Davis and de Fiebre, Alcohol Research & Health, 2006). Read the Nicotine page for the wider product-use pattern.

One in five weekly drinkers reported using alcohol to fall asleep#

Among people who answered both the alcohol-frequency and sleep-aid questions, 22.3% of weekly drinkers reported using alcohol to fall asleep in the previous month. The rate was 3.8% among occasional drinkers and 0.5% among non-drinkers.

Alcohol is an established carcinogen. The World Health Organization states that even low levels of consumption carry some risk, while the level of risk varies with the amount and frequency consumed and with personal factors (WHO, 2024).