Better-educated women contributing to rise in UK alcohol consumption – OECD

Study finds better-educated men more likely to drink hazardous amount than less-educated counterparts, but difference much more pronounced for women

Dangerous drinking among better-educated women has contributed to an increase in alcohol consumption over the last 30 years in the UK, bucking a downward trend in industrialised countries, according to a large international study.

The report, Tackling Harmful Alcohol Use, by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development found that on average, each person in the UK consumes 10.6 litres of pure alcohol a year, compared with 9.5 litres across the OECD's 34 member countries. The study said the UK was the 11th heaviest-drinking country out of the 40 that it examined.