Binge drinking is most common among younger adults aged 18–34. Binge drinking is more common among men than among women.
Among Australians who drink alcohol, the usual quantity consumed per day differs by age. Australians aged 18-24 years generally consume more standard drinks on a day they drink than any other age group.
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%).
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.
Gallup found that people ages 35-54 are the most likely generation to drink alcohol (70%), compared to Gen Z (60%) and baby boomers (52%).
A 2020 study from the University of Michigan shows that over the last two decades, the number of college students who abstained from drinking went up by 8%. And according to a 2022 U.K. study from Drinkaware on alcohol consumption trends, Gen Z is the most sober and sober-curious generation yet.
Gen Zers are drinking less than young people in past generations: about 20 percent less alcohol per capita than millennials did at their age, according to a report from Berenberg Research.
Which country drinks the most in Europe? In 2019, the top 10 European countries with the highest alcohol consumption per capita were Czechia (14.3 litres), Latvia (13.2), Moldova (12.9), Germany (12.8), Lithuania (12.8), Ireland (12.7), Spain (12.7), Bulgaria (12.5), Luxembourg (12.4), and Romania (12.3).
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.
In fact, 64 percent of the world's nations have legal drinking ages of 18. The youngest legal drinking age in the world is 15, with both Mali and the Central African Republic allowing folks to drink at that time.
Currently, an estimated 13.2 million Australians – 66.4% of the adult population – drink alcohol in one form or another in an average four weeks (33.6% don't).
Each month 20.4% of Australians consume alcohol at high risk levels. Australians living in remote areas are more likely to drink at high risk levels compared to those living in urban areas. The driving forces behind Australia's drinking culture are derived from social customs, habits, publicised images and normality.
Approximately 40% of the population (aged 14 years and over) drink alcohol at least once per week, including 5% of the population who drink daily. Twenty-three percent of Australians do not drink alcohol at all.
In 2019, the average age at which Australians aged 14 years and older consumed their first serve of alcohol was 17 years. However, the average age at which 14-24 year olds consumed their first serve of alcohol was 16 years.
Queenslanders appear to be the nation's biggest beer drinkers, with South Australians drinking the least.
Legal drinking age – you must be 18 or older to buy alcohol or to drink alcohol in a licensed venue. Selling alcohol – it's illegal to sell alcohol to anyone under 18 or to someone who is already drunk. Labelling – all packaged alcohol must show how many standard drinks it contains.
This is because: Men tend to have lower body fat ratios than women. Since alcohol is stored in body fat, men need to drink more in order to feel the substance's effects. Men's bodies produce more of the alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme.
Impact on the Heart: Women who drink excessively are at increased risk for damage to the heart muscle at lower levels of consumption and over fewer years of drinking than men. Breast and other Cancers: Alcohol consumption increases the risk of cancers of the mouth, throat, esophagus, liver, and colon.
Moderate drinkers and nondrinkers report similar rates of sadness, but both groups are slightly less likely than heavy drinkers to experience sadness. Still, while heavy drinkers and nondrinkers report similar levels of positive emotions, heavy drinkers report experiencing more negative emotions than nondrinkers.
Pakistan, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Mauritania, Libya, the Maldives, Iran, Kuwait, Brunei, and Bangladesh also have alcohol bans, as do some states in India (India is a Hindu-majority country but has a sizeable Muslim population).
However, despite the nearly 40% of U.S. adults (21+) who abstain from drinking alcohol and the rising interest in drinking less or going alcohol-free altogether, interest in consuming these kinds of beverages is relatively low.
“As expected, beer, wine, and vodka are in the top three of millennials' preferences,” says Mariana Fletcher, the head of analytics and insights at IWSR Drinks Market Analysis. “Millennials drank more beer during the pandemic compared to younger consumers.”