MOSCOW, June 16 (RIA Novosti) - Around 500,000 Russians die annually of alcohol abuse, the Russian Public Chamber said in a report on Tuesday.

"Every year in modern Russia, alcohol abuse kills around half a million people," the report stated, adding that the quality of the alcohol was not a major factor in the deaths.

The average Russian drinks 17 liters of spirits a year, with some 2 billion liters of alcohol being consumed in Russia annually.

The report also said that life expectancy for Russian males was lower than in a number of the world's poorest countries, including Yemen, Bangladesh, Mauritania, Honduras, Tajikistan and Senegal.

Alcohol is also involved in some 80% of murders and 40% of suicides in Russia, the report added.