UK alcohol consumption per head fell again in 2013, new figures show. This is the seventh year in the past nine that there has been a fall. Consumption per head is now 18 per cent lower than it was in 2004, when the current trend began, says the British Beer & Pub Association, which compiles the new data every year, based on HMRC alcohol tax returns.
Lowest level this century
In total, Britons drank over seven billion fewer units of alcohol in 2013, compared with 2004. Alcohol consumption per head was 7.7 litres per head in 2013 – the lowest level this century.
Brigid Simmonds, BBPA Chief Executive, comments:
“We have now experienced a decade of falling alcohol consumption. While total consumption per head is not synonymous with alcohol-related harm, these are interesting figures, as the percentage of those drinking at harmful levels has also been falling, as have the number of under-18s drinking.”
“The industry will continue to work to tackle alcohol misuse, but there are several encouraging trends, and accurate and up-to-date figures are important for the debate around alcohol.”
| Year | Alcohol consumption (per total population, litres per head) |
| 1980 | 7.4 |
| 1990 | 7.9 |
| 2000 | 8.4 |
| 2001 | 8.7 |
| 2002 | 9.1 |
| 2003 | 9.2 |
| 2004 | 9.5 |
| 2005 | 9.3 |
| 2006 | 9.0 |
| 2007 | 9.2 |
| 2008 | 8.9 |
| 2009 | 8.3 |
| 2010 | 8.4 |
| 2011 | 8.2 |
| 2012 | 7.9 |
| 2013 | 7.7 |
| Year | Per head consumption compared with 2013 |
| 1980 | +4.3% |
| 1990 | -2.4% |
| 2000 | -8.0% |
| 2004 | -18.4% |
| 2012 | -2.1% |
The data was compiled by the British Beer & Pub Association, from data published on 28 February in the HMRC Alcohol Bulletin