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Istat report: 8 million Italians at risk for alcohol consumption, e-cigs boom

With regard to excess weight, marked differences are also observed with respect to educational qualifications. Among university graduates, the prevalence of excess weight is 35.9% (28.9% overweight and 7.0% obese), rises to 47.1% among high school graduates (35.7% overweight and 11.4% obese) and reaches 56.4% (15.5% and 40.9%) among those with at most a secondary school diploma

by Rome Editorial Staff

1 April 2026

5' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Key points

More risky alcohol consumption in the North, more smokers in the South
Eight million alcohol consumers at risk
Over four in 10 adults overweight
... and one in four children
More excess weight and more sedentary among people with low educational qualifications
Increasing consumption of alternative products to traditional smoking
The e-cig boom

5' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

A snapshot of the Italy of 'vices', and lifestyles that increase the risk of developing chronic diseases, comes from the Istat report 'Health risk factors: weight, sedentariness, smoking and alcohol (year 2025)' published on Wednesday, 1 April.

More risky alcohol consumption in the North, more smokers in the South

The highest prevalence of risk drinking is observed especially in the North-East (17.9%), which is only one percentage point ahead of the North-West (16.9%). More distant is the prevalence of risky alcohol consumption in the Centre (14.8%) and, above all, in the South (13.2% in the South and 12.1% in the Islands). In the comparison with 2024, a slight increase in prevalence is observed in the regions of the South (+0.6 points) and, conversely, a decrease in those of the Centre (-0.7) and the North (-0.6), resulting in a slight reduction in existing territorial differences. At-risk alcohol consumption is highest in small municipalities with up to 2,000 inhabitants (17.4%), while it remains lower in the peripheral municipalities of the metropolitan area (14.2%), in the central municipalities of metropolitan areas and in large municipalities (14.6%).

On the other hand, analysing the distribution over the territory, similar shares of smokers are observed in almost all areas of the country, with the South (20%) slightly ahead of the Centre (19.8%) and the North (19.0%). Between 2024 and 2025, the ISTAT report records a slight but significant increase in the share of smokers in island regions (from 21.6% to 22.3%), which follows the upward trend of the last 10 years (smokers in this geographical breakdown in 2015 were 19.3%).

Eight million alcohol consumers at risk

Overall, in 2025 15.1% of the population aged 11 years and over (i.e. 8.79 million people) will have at least one risk behaviour of alcohol consumption (habitual excessive drinking or binge drinking). Among men the proportion is 21.3% (5 million 565 thousand persons), while among women it is 9.1% (2 million 515 thousand). There is substantial stability in the proportion of risk drinkers compared to 2024 (15.0 %). Habitual binge drinking concerns 8.3% of the population (11.4% men, 5.3% women), binge drinking 8.2% (12.0% men, 4.6% women).

Over four out of 10 adults overweight

The statistics agency's survey also addresses the issue of excess weight. In 2025, 46.4 per cent of people aged 18 and over will be overweight, of whom 34.8 per cent are overweight and 11.6 per cent obese (5 million 750 thousand people). This figure is stable compared to the last three years (it was 46.3% in 2023). However, the analysis of the last 10 years shows an increase of 1.3 percentage points, determined by the obesity component of the indicator, which rose from 9.8% to 11.6%. On the other hand, the overweight share decreased slightly from 35.5% in 2015 to 34.8% in 2025. The increase in obesity over time affected men and women equally, mainly affecting the population aged 18-54 (+2.4 percentage points), while in the other age groups the phenomenon remained stable overall.

... and one minor in four

Among adults, excess weight mainly affects men: in 2025, 55.1% of men will be overweight compared to 38.2% of women. The gap is particularly marked between the ages of 35 and 59, where men outnumber women by more than 20 percentage points. This difference narrows to about 7 percentage points between the ages of 18 and 34 and to about 10 from the age of 75 onwards. In the specific case of obesity, prevalences are also higher among men, but with less marked differences by age, amounting to a maximum of four points in the middle age group. The peak prevalence of obesity, for both men and women, is at 65-74 years of age: 16.4% among the former and 14.1% for the latter. After the age of 74, obesity decreases (12.0% and 13.7%, respectively). The share of overweight people increases with increasing age. In particular, overweight increases from 16.8% in the 18-24 age group to 41.6% among people aged 75 and over, while obesity ranges from 4.4% among 18-24 year olds to 15.2% among 65-74 year olds. In the age group of 3-17 years in the years 2024-2025 slightly more than one in four (26.0%) is overweight (a total of about 2 million children and young people). In an almost constant pattern over time, a higher prevalence is observed among 3-10 year olds, where it reaches 32.3%. As age increases, overweight decreases, reaching its lowest value among 14-17 year olds (17.9 % overweight). As in the past, a strong gender difference also remains among the youngest age group in 2024-2025, with higher values of excess weight among males (28.6 % vs. 23.1 %). Gender differences are observed especially from the age group 6-10 years and increase in subsequent age groups.

More overweight and more sedentary among people with low educational qualifications

For excess weight, marked differences are also observed with respect to educational qualifications. Among university graduates, the prevalence of excess weight is 35.9% (28.9% overweight and 7.0% obese), it rises to 47.1% among high school graduates (35.7% overweight and 11.4% obese) and reaches 56.4% (15.5% and 40.9%) among those with at most a secondary school diploma. The prerogative that people with higher educational qualifications are less exposed to risk factors due to excess body weight is found in all age groups, for both men and women. Similarly, levels of physical inactivity are also higher among those with lower educational qualifications: the prevalence of those who practice neither sport nor physical activity in their free time is 15.0 per cent among university graduates, rises to 26.1 per cent among high school graduates and reaches 49.8 per cent among those with a secondary school diploma. The most marked differences are observed in the 25-44 age group, where the proportion of people with low educational qualifications who do not engage in sport or physical activity is three and a half times that of those with the highest educational qualifications (44.8% versus 12.6%).

Rise in consumption of alternatives to traditional smoking

Another aspect also emerges from the survey. In recent years, alongside the traditional modes of tobacco consumption (cigarettes, mainly, but also cigars, pipes etc.), new products such as electronic cigarettes and heated unburnt tobacco (HnB) devices are emerging. Although these products still involve a limited segment of the population, their use is growing steadily, especially among young people. In 2025, 7.4% of the population aged 11 years and over will use e-cigarettes and/or heated unburnt tobacco products, with a fairly even prevalence between men and women (7.7% and 7.1%, respectively). Of these, 3.6% use e-cigarettes exclusively, 1.8% only heated unburnt tobacco products and 2.0% both types.

The e-cig boom

Electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products do not, therefore, appear to represent real smoking cessation devices, as most users also continue to smoke traditional cigarettes, making their use an addition and not a real alternative. The time-series analysis on the use of e-cigarettes, monitored since 2014, shows a growing trend: initially slow, but gradually faster, especially since 2017. In 2014, there were about 800,000 users aged 11 years and older, rising to about 3 million by 2025