Hyderabad, Oct. 3: Despite having around 600 liquor outlets, Hyderabad ranks 31st among Telangana’s 33 districts in the proportion of men who consume alcohol, according to National Family Health Survey 6 (NFHS-6) data.
The survey found that 30.4% of men aged 15 years and above in Hyderabad reported consuming alcohol. Only Adilabad, at 27.4%, and Kumuram Bheem Asifabad, at 30.1%, recorded lower figures.
Hyderabad’s figure is 13.5 percentage points below Telangana’s 43.9% average. However, the city’s rate remains above the national average of 18.9%.
Jangaon recorded the highest proportion in Telangana at 61.6%, followed by Jayashankar Bhupalapally at 56.6% and Warangal Rural at 56.5%. Yadadri Bhuvanagiri and Siddipet completed the top five districts.
Telangana Records High Alcohol Use in NFHS-6
NFHS-6 recorded alcohol consumption among 43.9% of men aged 15 years and above in Telangana, compared with 18.9% nationally. The official state fact sheet puts the rural figure at 46.6% and the urban figure at 36.3%, showing a 10.3 percentage-point rural-urban gap.
The latest figure is slightly lower than NFHS-5, when 43.4% of men aged 15 years and above were recorded as alcohol consumers in the comparable state indicator. However, the earlier survey used a different age range for some reported comparisons, so direct comparisons should be made carefully.
The state’s extensive liquor retail network adds context to the findings. Telangana has 2,620 A4 retail liquor shops, 1,107 2B bars and 88 elite bars, while Hyderabad alone is estimated to have around 600 liquor outlets.
Among women aged 15 years and above, 7.1% in Telangana reported consuming alcohol. The rural figure was 8.6%, compared with 2.8% in urban areas. In Hyderabad, the corresponding figure was 1.1%, which was the joint-lowest among the state’s districts.
The NFHS-6 findings come as Telangana’s liquor market continues to generate substantial sales and excise revenue. However, the survey measures the proportion of respondents reporting alcohol consumption, not the quantity they drink or the volume of liquor sold.
Therefore, district-level rankings indicate the prevalence of reported alcohol use rather than the total amount of alcohol consumed.
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