Consumers drink in moderation, claims global study

Consumers are more drink aware, says report

Consumers across the world enjoy alcohol in a responsible and relaxing fashion, according to a new report from Datamonitor.

It found 77.2% of Italians pay careful attention to the level of their drinking and 24.2% of Germans are likely to abstain from drinking alcohol altogether.

Datamonitor said the research showed European consumers are further away from the image of the dangerous ‘binge drinkers’ too often painted by the media.

“The excessive over-consumption of alcohol continues to receive plentiful media coverage in a number of countries across Europe, along with the financial and physical costs associated with such behavior increasingly documented,” said Matthew Taylor, Datamonitor consumer markets analyst and author of the report. “However, this does not portray a fully accurate picture of alcohol consumption.”

The levels of awareness of the dangers of excessive alcohol consumption have increased among many consumers, claim researchers.

Datamonitor found that over half of all consumers worldwide are giving at least a high amount of their attention to ensuring that they do not drink too much alcohol in general.

This demonstrates that many consumers are taking personal responsibility for their levels of alcohol consumption and some have reduced their intake accordingly, it said.

Some consumers continue to choose to refrain completely from consuming alcohol and tougher economic conditions could see an increase in this tendency.

Datamonitor reports the prevalence for abstention generally increases with age, although young adults are now the most likely of all age groups to be teetotal.

However, those consumers choosing to abstain from alcohol consumption remain the minority in countries including France, Germany, Italy, the UK, United States and Australia.