Statistics on Alcohol, England, 2015

In Great Britain:

• More than one in five adults (21 per cent) said that they do not drink alcohol at all in 2013. This has increased slightly since 2005 (19 per cent). Young adults (aged 16 to 24) were primarily responsible for this change, with the proportion of young adults who reported that they do not drink alcohol at all increasing between 2005 and 2013.
• The proportion of adults who binged(1) at least once in the week before interview decreased from 18 per cent in 2005 to 15 per cent in 2013. Young adults were mainly responsible for the decrease in binge drinking, with the proportion that had binged falling by more than a third since 2005, from 29 per cent to 18 per cent.

In England:

• In 2013, 15 per cent of men and 20 per cent of women did not drink any alcohol in the last year; 63 per cent of men and 64 per cent of women drank at levels indicating lower risk of harm; 18 per cent of men and 13 per cent of women drank at an increased risk of harm and 5 per cent of men and 3 per cent of women drank at higher risk levels.
• In 2013, 39 per cent of pupils in years 7 to 11 said that they had drunk alcohol at least once. This continues the downward trend since 2003, when 61 per cent of pupils had drunk alcohol, and is lower than at any time since 1988, when the survey first measured the prevalence of drinking in this age group.
• In real terms, between 2010 and 2013 household spending on food and drink fell by 3.2 per cent and eating out expenditure by 5.6 per cent. Household spending on alcoholic drinks fell by 5.7 per cent over the same period, whilst that bought for consumption outside the home fell by 13.4 per cent.
• In 2013/14, there were an estimated 1,059,210 admissions related to alcohol consumption where an alcohol-related disease, injury or condition was the primary reason for hospital admission or a secondary diagnosis (broad measure). This is 50,360 (5 per cent) more estimated admissions than 2012/13 (1,008,850) and 565,450 (115 per cent) more estimated admissions than 2003/04 (493,760).
  Of these:
  - The highest number of admissions, 511,260 (48 per cent of all admissions), were due to cardiovascular disease in 2013/14. This is 32,220 (7 per cent) more admissions than 2012/13 (479,040) and 337,100 (66 per cent) more admissions than 2003/04 (174,160).
• In 2013/14, there were an estimated 333,010 admissions where the primary diagnosis or alcohol-related external causes recorded in secondary diagnosis fields were attributable to the consumption of alcohol (the narrow measure). This is 7,150 (2 per cent) more estimated admissions than 2012/13 (325,870) and 96,240 (29 per cent) more estimated admissions than 2003/04 (236,770).
  Of these:
  - The highest number of admissions 74,330 (22 per cent) were due to cancer in 2013/14. This is 1,670 (2 per cent) more admissions than 2012/13 (72,660) and 11,440 (18 per cent) more admissions than 2003/04 (62,890).
• In 2014, 194,706 items were prescribed (in a primary care setting or NHS hospital). The majority of these 185,251 (95 per cent) were prescribed in a primary care setting (e.g. GP surgery, pharmacist or clinic). The Net Ingredient Cost (NIC) of these prescription items in 2014 was £3.43 million, which is an increase of £0.30 million since 2013 and more than double the NIC in 2004 of £1.52 million.
• In England, in 2013 there were 6,592 alcohol-related deaths. This is a 1 per cent increase from 2012 (6,495) and a 10 per cent increase from 2003 (5,984).
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  1 In line with the Government's Alcohol Strategy, men are considered to have binged if they drank more than eight units of alcohol on their heaviest drinking day in the week before interview and women if they drank more than six units.