Australians aged 18-24 years generally consume more standard drinks on a day they drink than any other age group. Those aged 70+ years are most likely to have 2 or less standard drinks per occasion.
Binge drinking is most common among younger adults aged 18–34. Binge drinking is more common among men than among women.
Men are far more likely to drink heavily than women, with 42% of men reporting heavy drinking levels compared to 25% of women.
Those aged 14-17 years are most likely to drink pre-mixed spirits, the popularity of which tends to decrease with age. Those aged 30 years and older are most likely to drink bottled wine, the popularity of which tends to increase with age.
Most white wines should be consumed within two to three years of bottling. Exceptions to this rule are full-bodied wines like chardonnay (three-five years) or roussane (optimal between three to seven years). However, fine white wines from Burgundy (French Chardonnays) are best enjoyed at 10-15 years of age.
According to Silicon Valley Bank's State of the U.S. Wine Industry 2022 report, only 20% of millennials drink wine. And the industry is expected to face a 20% decrease in volume of wine consumption over the next 10 years, an effect predicted to be primarily influenced by millennial-drinking trends.
The percentage of Australians who drink alcohol on a daily basis decreased significantly from 6% in 2016 to 5.4% in 2019. In South Australia in 2019, 5.8% reported drinking alcohol daily; men were 3.5 times more likely to drink daily than South Australian women.
The alcohol beverages most commonly consumed by Australians are bottled wine (34%), regular strength beer (19%), and bottled spirits/liqueur (15%).
The international survey found Australians drank to the point of drunkenness an average of 27 times a year, almost double the global average of 15.
Drinking is arguably a big part of Australian culture. In Australia, it's strongly connected to social situations; you'll struggle to find a party or gathering that doesn't have alcohol in one form or another. It's common to go out for drinks to relax after work, or to celebrate over a toast with friends and family.
Adult Men Drink More than Women
Almost 58% of adult men report drinking alcohol in the past 30 days compared with 49% of adult women. Men are more likely to binge drink than women. Approximately 21% of men report binge drinking, compared with 13% of women.
Young Men Drink the Most
Men age 18 to 49 drink the most, according to the Gallup poll, which explains why so much alcohol marketing seems to target them. Women are also a targeted demographic for alcohol use.
men are twice as likely as women to drink at risky levels (24 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively), with men in their 40s being the most likely (29 per cent) to drink at risky levels (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2017)
Australian men usually drink more than women on a day they have alcohol. Women are more likely than men to drink two or less standard drinks per occasion (63% vs 43%).
Australia's annual alcohol consumption is relatively high compared to other developed countries. The most recent data by country for 18 selected developed countries, indicated that annual alcohol consumption was in the range of 6 to 12 litres per capita.
People from Australia are getting wasted at a much higher frequency than the rest of the world, according to a global drug survey. The world's largest annual drug survey has ranked Australia as the drunkest country on the planet, with Australians getting shitfaced almost twice as frequently as the global average.
Belarus, a country that drinks the most liters of pure alcohol than any other country in the world, was also classified as having one the riskiest pattern of drinking.
Looking at the amount of alcohol consumed per person aged 15 years or older, the Seychelles is in first place with around 20.5 litres of alcohol drunk per person per year, according to Our World in Data; studies show that young male peer groups primarily drink high amounts of alcohol in the Seychelles.
All the countries with complete bans on alcohol (Libya, Kuwait, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen) are majority Muslim. Because it is banned in the Quran, many Muslim countries tend to take a dim view of drinking even if they don't ban it outright for everyone.
Among US adults, Gallup showed those aged 35 to 54 are most likely to drink alcohol (70%), compared to Gen Zers (60%) and Boomers (52%), while a study from 2020 found that the portion of college-age Americans who are teetotal has risen from 20% to 28% in a decade.
The best wines can be stored for more than 100 years, but most great wines will reach their peak before they turn 50 years old.