More or Less Are women in the UK the biggest binge drinkers in the world?
Nov 18, 2023
Exploring the statistics on women's alcohol consumption in the UK and the discrepancy between reported intake and actual sales. Also discussing inaccuracies in reporting the number of vessels in the South China Sea and the relatively small global fishing catch in the area.
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Incomparable Alcohol Metrics Skew Rankings
- Comparing binge-drinking rates across countries is misleading because units and thresholds vary widely between surveys.
- These definitional differences biased the UK upward in OECD comparisons.
Prefer Sales Data Over Self-Reports
- Use sales and tax records rather than self-report surveys to compare national alcohol consumption.
- Relying on objective sales data reduces bias from differing definitions and underreporting.
Surveys Underestimate Actual Drinking
- Surveys systematically undercount alcohol consumed compared with recorded sales.
- People misjudge or underreport intake, so survey-based totals rarely match actual sales.