A Nation of Beer Drinkers

Beer remains an Englishman's favourite tipple (and a Scotsman's and Welshman's, for that matter). The traditional view of this as a beer-drinking nation is upheld by the findings of the latest government survey of drinking behaviour.*

Of all the alcohol consumed by men over in Great Britain in 1998, 70 per cent was beer, lager, or cider. Of this 16 per cent was strong versions of these drinks - that is 6%ABV (alcohol by volume) or more. In the male population, consumption of these strong beer, lagers, and ciders outstrips that of spirits which tie with wine at 14 per cent. Among women, wine constitutes 34 per cent of all alcohol consumed and spirits 25 per cent. Although women drink much less than men over all, the difference is made up largely by beer. They drink the same amount of wine and marginally more fortified wine. Their average weekly consumption of spirits is less than one unit smaller than men's.

Beer's dominant position is particularly marked among men under 25, where it makes up four fifths of their alcohol intake. For those over 65 this has sunk to just over half. The decline in strong beer and lager consumption is even more marked (45 per cent of the total alcohol drunk for those under 25 to only 12 per cent for the 65s and over). On the other hand consumption of spirits increases sharply with age: from 11 per cent for those aged 16-24 to 27 per cent for those aged 65 and over.

It is worth noting that alcopops account for a tiny and decreasing section of the market. In 1998 they were only 1 per cent of male consumption and 3 per cent of female (as opposed to 3 and 4 per cent respectively in 1997).

Respondents of the survey were asked how often they had had an alcoholic drink during the previous twelve months. About three out of ten (29 per cent) said that they had drunk on at least three days a week. Just under 11 per cent said that they had drunk alcohol on almost every day last year (14 per cent of men and 9 per cent of women - unchanged since 1997). Those who had not drunk any alcohol at all during the same twelve months were also 11 per cent (8 per cent men and 13 per cent women), down by 2 per cent on the 1997 figures. There was a small but statistically significant increase in the number of people who said that they had consumed alcohol on at least three days a week during the last year.

As far as social class is concerned, those in non-manual employment were much more likely to be frequent drinkers than manual workers. 19 per cent of men in socal class I/II said that they drank every day as opposed to 8 per cent in social class IV/V. Among women the equivalent figures were 14 per cent and 6 per cent.

In the seven days preceding the survey, 77 per cent of men and 61 per cent of women had drunk alcohol. 22 per cent of men had drunk more than 8 units on at least one occasion during that week. The proportion varied considerable according to age from 38 per cent of men aged 16-24 to 4 per cent of those aged 65 and over. Women were much less likely to have drunk heavily. Only 7 per cent of women had drunk more than 6 units on at least one occasion during the preceding week. As with men, the likelihood of having done so was related to age. 20 per cent of 16-24 year old women had drunk more than 6 units but only 0.5 per cent of women over 65 had done so.

Perhaps it is unsurprising that those whose average weekly alcohol consumption was highest also reported the highest incidence of heavy drinking days. 52 per cent of men who consumed more than 21 units, on average, during the week had drunk 8 units on at least one occasion. The same held true with women: 25 per cent of women who had consumed more than 14 units had drunk 6 units on at least one occasion during the previous week.

Respondents were asked about their knowledge of units. 75 per cent admitted having heard of measuring alcohol consumption in this way. This was a fall of 4 per cent on 1997. On in five got it wrong when asked what consisted a unit of beer.

One of the objects of the survey was to establish what proportion and drinkers and types of drinker were likely to buy alcohol from places where unit labelled drinks were available. Unit labelling is being undertaken by a number of the UK's largest drink companies in support of the Governments "sensible drinking" messages. The idea is that drinkers will more readily associate these messages with the actual amount of alcohol they are buying. To begin with the labelling will be used on cans and bottles sold in off-licences and retail outlets.

Just under 70 per cent had bought alcohol from a licensed bar and a similar proportion had done so from supermarket during the year. 57 per cent had bought alcohol with food in a restaurant and around a third from an off-licence, abroad, or a duty-free. It is interesting to note that only a tiny proportion (1 per cent) said they bought alcohol abroad or in duty-free "once or twice a month". No-one - perhaps not surprisingly given the possible implication - admitted to doing this once a week or more. However, well over a quarter (28 per cent) of the adult population bought alcohol abroad or from duty-free "a few times a year".

*Drinking: adults' behaviour and knowledge in 1998. E Goddard and T Thomas Office for National Statistics. 1998.