Out-of-home alcohol spend falls 9.8% over three years

A new Government-backed report shows that household spending on alcoholic drinks in the UK increased by 1.3% between 2009 and 2012, while the amount spent on drinking outside the home fell by almost a tenth (9.8%) in that time.

Regarding volume of alcohol, the amount of alcoholic drinks consumed outside the home has almost halved since its peak in 2001/2. The average adult drank 355ml of alcohol per week in 2012, compared to 733ml a decade before. Meanwhile, consumption within the home has almost stayed the same, with the average adult drinking 700ml in 2012 compared to 735ml before.

The report also found that that the amount of alcohol consumed in eating out occasions fell by 22% over the three years, with eating out purchases accounting for 23% of total alcohol intake in 2012.

Cost​

Regarding alcohol costs, the research found that alcohol in 2013 was nearly 61% more affordable than in was in 1980, based on a measure of how the average price of alcohol has changed compared to other household items. However, between 1980 and 2013 the price of alcohol increased by nearly 24% more than retail prices generally.

In real terms, between 2009 and 2012 household spending on food and drink fell by 3.1% and eating out expenditure by 5.6%.

The Statistics on Alcohol report from the Health & Social Care Information Centre found that despite the overall growth in spending on eating out, the figures suggest that consumption of alcohol has declined in recent years.

Gender​

Between 2005 and 2012 the proportion of men who drank alcohol in the week before being interviewed fell from 72% to 64%, and the proportion of women fell from 57% to 52%. Over that period the proportion of men and women who were frequent drinkers (who drank alcohol on at least five days in the week before being interviewed) fell from 22% to 14%, and from 13% to 9%, respectively.

Among those who had drunk alcohol in the last week, 55% of men and 53% of women drank more than the recommended daily amounts, including 31% of men and 24% of women who drank more than twice the recommended amounts in 2012.

The statistics also show that consumption among school pupils has also seen a dramatic drop, with 43% of 11-15 year olds in 2012 saying they had drunk alcohol at least once, compared to 61% in 2003.

Types of alcohol​

The types of drink consumed on the day that men and women drank the most in the last week varied with age and sex. The majority of men had drunk normal strength beer, lager, cider or shandy (62%); a third had drunk wine (33%), and just over a fifth had drunk spirits (22%).

In contrast, the majority of women had drunk wine (64%); a quarter had drunk spirits (26%), and a fifth (19%) had drunk normal strength beer, lager, cider or shandy.

The report also says that the 62% of men and 61% of women usually drink up to their weekly limits per week (21 units for men and 14 for women).