In 2005, 24 per cent. of men and 13 per cent. of women drank more than 21 units and 14 units respectively each week.
The table show average weekly alcohol consumption between 1992 and 2005. During the 1990s and up to 2001, the data show an increase in average weekly consumption; the figure for 2005 shows a reduction.
It is important to note that as a result of an inter-departmental review (Sensible Drinking; Department of Health 1995) Government advice on sensible drinking was changed from a weekly to a daily benchmark. This was to recognise the dangers of excessive drinking in a single session. Data on maximum daily amount drunk last week have only been collected by the General Household Survey from 1998 onwards and therefore trend information back to 1992 is not available on that measure.
Unweighted Weighted 1992 1994 1996 1998 1998 2000 2001 2002 2005 Weighted base 2005 (000’s) = 100 per cent. Unweighted sample 2005 Total 10.2 10.0 10.7 11.0 11.5 12.0 12.1 12.1 10.8 41,744 19,956 Note: In 2000, the decision was made to weight the data to compensate for under-representation of people in some groups. This table shows weighted and unweighted data for 1998 to give an indication of the effect of weighting. Caution should be exercised when comparing weighted and unweighted data. Source: General Household Survey 2005, Smoking and Drinking Among Adults; Office for National Statistics