THE average drinker is risking their health by consuming 50 per cent more alcohol than the Government’s maximum safe limit.
Figures reveal they are typically consuming 21 units of alcohol weekly – the equivalent of ten and a half glasses of wine.
Experts said the intake was ‘shocking’ and resulted in ‘harmful consequences’ for drinkers and their families.
Last year, the Government advised men and women to drink no more than 14 units a week – equivalent to seven pints of mid-strength beer or seven medium glasses of wine.
But NHS figures suggest that the average drinker in England is consuming 20.8 units a week. The calculations are based on sales data from 2016 divided among the 83 per cent of adults over 16 who drink. Trends are far worse in Scotland where adults typically drink 24 units a week – or 12 glasses of wine.
Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, of the Alcohol Health Alliance UK, said: ‘These figures are shocking and show why minimum unit pricing is needed in Scotland, as well as in the rest of the UK.’
The figures also revealed that the proportion of adult drinkers fell from 90 per cent in 2000 to 83.1 per cent by 2016.
© Daily Mail