Statistics on Alcohol: England, 2007

Note: Figures showing the proportion of 11-13 year olds reporting drinking in the last week have been updated following advice from our contractors. The message remains the same - the proportion of 11-13 year olds reporting having a drink in the last seven days has fallen from 2001 to 2006, although the proportions doing so in each year are lower.

Drinking among adults:

• in England in 2005, 73 per cent of men and 58 per cent of women reported drinking an alcoholic drink on at least one day in the week prior to interview. Thirteen per cent of men and 8 per cent of women reported drinking on every day in the previous week
• thirty four per cent of men and 20 per cent of women had drunk more than the recommended number of units on at least one day in the week prior to interview. Eighteen per cent of men and 8 per cent of women had drunk more than twice the recommended daily intake
• older people were more likely to drink regularly 28 per cent of men and 18 per cent of women aged 45-64 drank on five or more days in the week prior to interview compared to 10 per cent of men and 5 per cent of women aged 16-24. Younger people were more likely to drink heavily, with 42 per cent of men and 36 per cent of women aged 16-24 drinking above the daily recommendations, compared to 16 per cent of men and 4 per cent of women aged 65 and over
• among men, 24 per cent reported drinking on average more than 21 units in a week. For women, 13 per cent reported drinking more than 14 units in an average week
• in Great Britain in 2006, 69 per cent of adults reported that they had heard of the Government guidelines on alcohol consumption. Of these adults, more than a third said that they did not know what the recommendations were
• thirty two per cent of adults had seen units of alcohol displayed on labels of alcoholic drinks, compared to 23 per cent in 2000.
• in England in 2005, 45 per cent of pregnant women did not drink during pregnancy, while 39 per cent reported drinking on average less than 1 unit a week and only 8 per cent drank 1 to 2 units.

Drinking among school children:

• in 2006, 21 per cent of pupils in England aged 11-15 reported drinking alcohol in the week prior to interview; continuing the recent decreasing trend since 2001.
• since 2001, the proportion of pupils who have never drunk alcohol has risen; in 2006, 46 per cent of pupils said they had never had a proper alcoholic drink, compared to 39 per cent in 2001.
• among pupils who had drunk alcohol in the week prior to interview, the average weekly consumption has almost doubled from 5.3 units in 1990 to 10.4 units in 2000. Weekly consumption has since fluctuated around this level and in 2006 was estimated at 11.4 units. However, consumption among children aged 11-13 has continued to increase, from 5.6 units in 2001 to 10.1 units in 2006. The proportion of pupils in this age group who reported having a drink in the last seven days has decreased in the same time period from 14 per cent in 2001 to 9 per cent in 2006.

Drinking related ill health and mortality:

• in 2005/06, there were 187,640 NHS hospital admissions among adults aged 16 and over with either a primary or secondary diagnosis specifically related to alcohol. This has more than doubled from 89,280 in 1995/96
• among children under 16 there were 5,280 NHS Hospital admissions in 2005/06 with either a primary or secondary diagnosis specifically related to alcohol. This represents an overall increase of just over a third from 3,870 in 1995/96
• in 2005, 6,570 people died from causes directly linked to alcohol consumption, of these just under two thirds (4,160) died from alcoholic liver disease. Two thirds (67 per cent) of those dying from alcoholic liver disease were men.

Alcohol related costs:

• in 2004, the Government estimated that alcohol misuse costs the health service between £1.4 and £1.7 billion per year
• the volume of pure alcohol released for home consumption per person aged 16 and over has increased from 9.4 litres in 1993/94 to 11.4 litres in 2005/06
• in 2006, alcohol was 65 per cent more affordable than it was in 1980. Household expenditure on alcohol has increased steadily since 1980 as has total household expenditure; however expenditure on alcohol as a proportion of total household expenditure has decreased steadily over the same period standing at 5.2 per cent in 2006 compared to 7.5 per cent in 1980.