Injury and Violence Prevention Branch

Alcohol Use and Related Harms

Excessive alcohol use is an important public health concern in North Carolina. Excessive alcohol use can put people at risk for many harmful health outcomes including chronic conditions (like liver disease and cancer), motor vehicle crashes, injuries, and violence.

Excessive alcohol use includes:

• Binge drinking: 4 or more drinks during a single occasion for women, 5 or more drinks during a single occasion for men
• Heavy drinking: 8 or more drinks per week for women, 15 or more drinks per week for men
• Any alcohol consumed by pregnant women
• Any alcohol consumed by those under age 21

After viewing this page, if you find yourself needing more information on alcohol use and related harms, please review the Injury and Violence Prevention Branch data request policies and procedures for steps on how to make a custom data request.

NC Summary Resources

• New! 06/27/2024 Reducing Excessive Alcohol Use to Build Healthier North Carolina Communities provides an overview of excessive alcohol use, the evidence-based policies to reduce excessive alcohol use, and the status of those policies in NC.
• The NC Alcohol Data Dashboard provides information on the public health impact of excessive alcohol use at the state and county levels.
• New! 07/03/2024 Alcohol-Related Harms Surveillance Slides
• The Excessive Alcohol Use in North Carolina Fact Sheet provides an overview of excessive alcohol use, related harms, and strategies to reduce excessive drinking. Updated! 7/11/2024
• NC Alcohol Social Districts Fact Sheet provides an overview of alcohol social districts in the state, the evidence that is known and not known around alcohol social districts, and guidance for localities. New! 7/26/2023

Survey Data

See the three state-wide survey data sets below for data on alcohol-related outcomes among adults (BRFSS), youth (YRBS) and pregnant women (PRAMS). 

  Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS)

 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS)

 Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS)

County Tables

Click below to see the topics below for information at the county level on alcohol-related deaths and emergency department visits. The death tables contain the most recent 10 years of data, while emergency department tables contain data from 2016 due to a change from ICD-9 to ICD-10 codes.

 Death - Updated 6/26/24

 Archived Data

 N.C. DETECT Emergency Department Data