Holidays, celebrations, and commiserations: measuring drinking during feasting and fasting to improve national and individual estimates of alcohol consumption

Table 5 Weekly alcohol consumption in drinkers^a ≥16 years – health survey for England, special occasion survey and sales

			UK Units ^b /week		% of HMRC sales
		Population (1,000s)	Total (millions)	Per drinker
HMRC^c (sales)	All	36,072.2	783.8	21.7	NA
Health Survey for England	Male	18,741.1	318.6	17.0	40.6
	Female	17,331.1	176.8	10.2	22.6
	All	36,072.2	495.4	13.7	63.2
ARUK Survey	Male	18,741.1	324.2	17.3	41.4
Typical drinking only	Female	17,331.1	167.6	9.7	21.4
	All	36,072.2	491.8	13.6	62.7
ARUK Survey	Male	18,741.1	395.4	21.1	50.5
Typical/atypical and special occasion	Female	17,331.1	220.0	12.7	28.1
	All	36,072.2	615.4	17.1	78.5

^aNumber of drinkers are based on Health Survey for England 2012 [9]; ^b1 UK unit = 8 g of pure alcohol; ^c HMRC, Her Majesties Revenue and Customs – clearance data measures total alcohol taxed for sale across the UK (2013 [11]). The British Beer and Pub Association [10] publishes proportions sold regionally allowing the calculation of sales for England & Wales only. Total sales for England were then based on a per capita split between England and Wales (2012 [32]). To provide a comparable figure to survey consumption by ≥16 years only, total sales were further reduced by 190,982,542 units based on estimated annual consumption by those 11 to 15 years (2012 [48]). NA, Not applicable.

ISSN: 1741-7015