There is good news from a survey on alcohol consumption released recently by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS): Australians are drinking less alcohol than at any time in the previous half-a-century.
The ABS survey found that Australians 15 years of age and older drank on average 9.7 litres of pure alcohol in 2013-14. That’s the lowest level of alcohol consumption recorded since the early 1960’s and less than the 9.9 litres recorded in 2012-13.
It’s not just the overall consumption that is changing. The alcohol that Australians choose to drink is also varying.
“Fifty years ago, beer made up three quarters of all alcohol consumed, but now makes up under half at 41 per cent,” said Louise Gates from the ABS. “Wine’s share has increased over the same period from 12 per cent to 38 per cent.”
Some other interesting facts from the survey:
- 7 litres of alcohol equates to an average of 2.1 standard drinks per day per person.
- Together, Australians consumed 183.7 million litres of pure alcohol in 2013-14.
- This means Australians consumed enough pure alcohol in 2013-14 to fill around 73 Olympic swimming pools.
