Custos de produtividade da mortalidade prematura atribuível ao consumo de álcool nos municípios brasileiros

Abstract

Alcohol consumption constitutes a major public health problem and also imposes substantial economic costs on society. Among these impacts, productivity losses resulting from premature mortality stand out. By prematurely ending lives during working age, these deaths reduce so-ciety’s productive capacity and income-generating potential. Estimates for Brazil indicate that the economic cost of alcohol consumption reaches BRL 18.8 billion, of which approximately BRL 17 billion is attributable to productivity losses associated with premature mortality. Despite the magnitude of these costs, the available evidence remains concentrated on aggregated territorial analyses, with a scarcity of studies at the municipal level. Therefore, this study aimed to esti-mate and analyze the productivity costs resulting from premature deaths attributable to alcohol consumption across Brazilian municipalities in 2022. Data were obtained from the Mortality Information System (SIM), the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), and the Annual Social Information Report (RAIS). Mortality rates, Years of Potential Life Lost (YPLL), and Years of Potential Productive Life Lost (YPPLL) were estimated. Productivity costs were estimated using the Human Capital Approach by valuing future earnings, discounting them to present value, and multiplying them by the YPPLL. The total cost of lost productivity was esti-mated at BRL 15.5 billion, with the largest share associated with causes partially attributable to alcohol (BRL 11.0 billion). The highest productivity costs were concentrated among men (BRL 13.6 billion), the brown (mixed-race) population (BRL 8.28 billion), and individuals younger than 55 years (BRL 13.7 billion). Although the highest absolute costs were observed in large municipalities, the highest average productive life loss per death occurred in smaller municipa-lities with lower Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The findings demonstrate that premature mor-tality attributable to alcohol consumption compromises society’s productive capacity and gene-rates substantial productivity costs, which are unevenly distributed across population groups and territories, reinforcing the need for targeted public policies.