UK drinking levels are down

UK alcohol consumption is falling at the fastest rate for more than 60 years according to HM Revenue & Customs data released by the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA). In the first 6 months of 2009 consumption fell by over 8% to 3.8 litres of pure alcohol per person, a drop of 8% vs 4.1 litres per head in the same period of 2008. Drinking levels in the UK have been steadily declining since a peak in 2004 of 9.4 litres of alcohol per head per year. But while consumption is down, alcohol related hospital admissions are regularly reported to be rising when theoretically admissions should be declining.

According to the BBPA the consumption data shows that the theory of reducing everyone’s drinking to tackle alcohol harm does not work in practice and that targeted policies would be more effective. The BBPA say that despite this clear trend, the Government continues to press ahead with a wide range of measures designed to control alcohol consumption at national level. Chief executive Brigid Simmons said there needs to be a new debate about effective policy measures that are clearly targeted at the minority who misuse alcohol.