Alcohol is an established cause of cancer at eight sites in the body. Consumption per Ethiopian adult rose from 0.4 litres of pure alcohol in 2000 to 2.3 litres in 2024, and has been flat since 2018. The world average in 2024 was 4.9 litres (WHO Global Health Observatory, indicator SA_0000001688). On diet, the last national measurement was Ethiopia’s 2015 risk-factor (STEPS) survey. It found more than 98% of Ethiopians eating fewer than five servings of fruit and vegetables a day.
Key facts
- The International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies alcoholic drinks as carcinogenic to humans (opens in a new tab). There is sufficient evidence for cancers of the mouth, throat, oesophagus, colon, rectum, liver, larynx and breast. That is eight sites, as listed in IARC’s May 2026 update.
- WHO’s position, in its 2024 alcohol fact sheet, is that there is “no form of alcohol consumption that is risk-free” (opens in a new tab). It also says that most alcohol-related harm comes from heavy drinking.
- Alcohol consumption per Ethiopian adult rose from 0.4 litres of pure alcohol in 2000 to 2.3 litres in 2024 (opens in a new tab). It has been flat since 2018. The world average in 2024 was 4.9 litres (indicator
SA_0000001688). - In 2015, more than 98% of Ethiopians ate fewer than five servings of fruit and vegetables a day (opens in a new tab). Fruit was eaten on 0.9 days in an average week, vegetables on 1.5.
- Processed meat is classified as carcinogenic to humans, but the sufficient evidence covers colon and rectum only. Red meat sits in a lower evidence category, with limited evidence.
Alcohol
Alcohol causes cancer at eight sites where the evidence is judged sufficient, breast cancer in women among them. Worldwide, WHO attributes 4.4% of cancers diagnosed in 2019 to alcohol, and 401,000 cancer deaths in that year, on its alcohol fact sheet.
Ethiopian consumption sits below the world average: 2.3 litres against 4.9 in 2024 (indicator SA_0000001688). The alcohol-attributable death rate in the WHO African Region was 52.2 per 100,000 in 2019, close to Europe’s 52.9, on WHO’s alcohol fact sheet.
Roughly 43% of the alcohol drunk in Ethiopia in 2024 was home-produced and unrecorded — tella, areke and similar. That share is a CPR – Ethiopia calculation from WHO’s total and unrecorded figures: 1.0 litre of 2.3 (indicators SA_0000001688 and SA_0000001821).
Food
An IARC classification records how certain the evidence is that something causes cancer. It carries no information about how much risk is involved. So the groups cannot be ranked against one another by severity.
Processed meat. Sufficient evidence for colon and rectum, and limited evidence for stomach.
Very hot drinks. Classified as probably carcinogenic, with limited evidence for one type of oesophageal cancer. Ethiopia recorded an estimated 1,855 oesophageal cancer cases and 1,669 deaths (opens in a new tab) in 2024. That is a near one-to-one ratio between cases and deaths.
Aflatoxins. Produced by moulds, classified as carcinogenic to humans with sufficient evidence for liver cancer. Maize and groundnut storage conditions in parts of Ethiopia make exposure plausible, alongside chronic hepatitis B. Hepatitis B is the other established cause of liver cancer covered on these pages.
What WHO recommends, in its January 2026 healthy-diet fact sheet, is at least 400 g of fruit and vegetables a day (opens in a new tab) for anyone over 10. It also recommends at least 25 g of fibre, free sugars under 10% of energy, and salt under 5 g a day.
What this means in Ethiopia
In Ethiopia’s 2015 national STEPS survey, more than 98% of Ethiopians fell short of five servings of fruit and vegetables a day. Fruit was eaten on 0.9 days in an average week. WHO’s healthy-diet guidance notes that animal source foods remain important for nutrient intake, particularly for children and for pregnant and breastfeeding women.
Cancer prevention recommendations written for a global audience, such as the World Cancer Research Fund’s (opens in a new tab), are built around diet, body weight and alcohol. In Ethiopia they sit alongside the infection risks set out on the infections and HPV vaccination pages.
Colorectal and prostate cancer were the two most common cancers in Ethiopian men in 2024. The estimates were 3,518 cases — 13.1% of male cancers — and 3,494 (IARC, GLOBOCAN 2024). Alcohol consumption per adult rose from 0.4 litres in 2000 to 2.3 litres in 2024 (indicator SA_0000001688).
What you can do
- If you drink, reducing the number of heavy drinking occasions is the first change to make. WHO’s position is that no level is risk-free, and that most of the harm sits at the heavy end.
- Home-brewed drinks vary in strength. Tella, areke and similar accounted for roughly 43% of the alcohol drunk in Ethiopia in 2024. That is a CPR – Ethiopia calculation from WHO’s figures.
- Work towards 400 g of fruit and vegetables a day. That is WHO’s recommendation for anyone over 10, and it is a quantity rather than a number of servings.
- Do not cut animal source foods from a child’s or a pregnant woman’s diet on cancer-prevention grounds. WHO’s healthy-diet guidance identifies them as important for nutrient intake in those groups.