BBC map links price of booze with consumption levels in Europe

Maps published on the BBC website indicate a correlation between the average price of alcohol and the average level of consumption per head across Europe.

The BBC maps look at the price of alcohol across Europe and allows you to compare that with consumption in each country.The basic data is not perfect - the most recent consumption data is from 2003 - and the maps aren't a perfect fit, but there's a clear correlation between price and consumption.

Average consumption is 9.1 litres per capita while the average price is set at a nominal 100. Excluding the UK and Ireland, 14 of the 18 countries surveyed show an inverse relationship between above/below average prices and above/below average consumption. The higher the price the lower the consumption.

But the UK and Ireland, where alcohol prices are higher than the European average and consumption is higher too, are exceptions to the rule.

Another interesting map shows alcohol consumption in the UK since 1900.  Drinking was at its lowest during the First World War and in the period from the Great Depression to the end of rationing in the late '50s. Since then alcohol consumption per head has virtually doubled.

Read the entire article from the BBC here

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