Men drink twice as much alcohol as women
Men are drinking twice as much alcohol as women according to
new figures from the Office for National Statistics – 18.7 units a week,
on average, compared with 9.0 units.
A report on smoking and drinking among adults, which uses data
from the 2006 General Household Survey (GHS), found that men were more
likely than women to have drunk alcohol on at least one day in the
previous week: 71 per cent of men and 56 per cent of women had done so.
Men also drank on more days of the week than women. More than one in
five men (21 per cent) compared with just over one in ten women (11 per
cent) had drunk on at least five of the previous seven days.
Further key findings on drinking from the report, “Smoking and drinking among Adults 2006” include:
- Alcohol consumption in 2006 was higher in England and in
Wales than in Scotland: 13.7 and 13.5 units a week, on average,
respectively, compared with 11.6 units.
- Men and women in households classified as ‘routine and
manual’ drank less (11.6 units a week), on average, than those in other
types of household. Those in ‘managerial and professional’ households
drank the most (15.1 units a week).
Methods for calculating alcohol consumption have been updated
to reflect the trend towards larger measures and stronger alcoholic
drinks, especially wine. It should be noted, however, that changing the
way in which alcohol consumption estimates are derived does not in
itself reflect a real change in drinking among the adult population. One
glass of wine (250 ml) and one pint of beer each has about 3 units of
alcohol.
2006 is the first year that the new methodology has been
applied to GHS data and for this reason it is not possible to compare
like-with-like figures from previous years. However, estimates from the
last ten years using the ‘old’ methodology suggest that the trend in
alcohol consumption may be downward over the last few years. The
proportion of men drinking more than 21 units a week on average fell
from 29 per cent in 2000 to 23 per cent in 2006. There was also a fall
in the proportion of women drinking more than 14 units a week (from 17
per cent in 2000 to 12 per cent in 2006). This contrasts with the longer
term upward trend in consumption.
Key findings from the Drinking: adults’ behaviour and knowledge in 2007 report
The ONS Omnibus survey, Drinking: adults’ behaviour and
knowledge in 2007, also published today, shows that 85 per cent of
adults had heard of measuring alcohol consumption in units in 2007,
compared with 79 per cent ten years earlier.
Furthermore, 38 per cent of those who had heard of units,
reported having seen unit labelling on alcohol, up from 32 per cent a
year ago and 23 per cent in 2000. The most frequently mentioned place
where unit labelling had been seen was a supermarket or shop (81 per
cent).
While 33 per cent of men and 22 per cent of women drank in a
pub or bar in the previous week, 50 per cent of men and 52 per cent of
women had drunk an alcoholic drink in their own home. Among those who
had drunk alcohol in the previous week, the most common drinking
companions for men and women were spouse or partner (41 per cent and 40
per cent respectively) and friends (45 per cent of male drinkers and 38
per cent of female drinkers).
NOTES
The ONS has published new data on drinking and smoking from
the 2006 General Household Survey (GHS). It also publishes an Omnibus
survey report on drinking in 2007.
Both reports are available free on the National Statistics website.