Abstinence Britain
We’re drinking 10% LESS than we did in 90s – but enjoy better quality tipples
BRITAIN has called time on its love affair with heavy drinking, a major study suggests.
Alcohol consumption in the UK has fallen nearly 10 per cent per person since 1990, with the steepest drop coming in the last decade.
The figures – published last night in the Lancet medical journal – show the percentage of adults who drink has slowly risen over the last 30 years, mostly due to the fact that more women consume alcohol than in the past.
But while more people in Britain drink, they do so far more sensibly than they used to. Experts last night said the figures suggest British people have a ‘maturing relationship’ with alcohol, choosing better quality drinks rather than a lot of cheap booze.
The World Health Organisation study showed that globally, alcohol consumption rose 10 per cent between 1990 and 2017, from 5.9litres per person a year to 6.5litres. These are litres of pure alcohol consumed in drinks such as beer, wine and spirits.
But in the UK the opposite was true – dropping from 12.5litres in 1990 to 12.3 in 2010 before falling to 11.4 in 2017. This is the equivalent of two bottles of beer every day or two small glasses of wine.
The researchers predict that by 2030 UK consumption will have fallen further, to 11.05 litres. The proportion of problem drinkers has remained broadly stable at roughly 25 per cent – and at the other end of the scale the percentage of teetotallers has also stayed constant at about the 15 per cent mark. But those in the middle – the vast majority – are consuming far less.
Experts believe this is being driven by young people, many of whom choose not to drink at all.
Christopher Snowdon, head of lifestyle economics at the Institute of Economic Affairs think tank, said: ‘The under-30s age group seem to be more responsible than those in the past.’
But health leaders said the figures hide the fact that problem drinkers, particularly the middle aged, are consuming more.
‘Driven by young people’