Binge drinking levels falling
The number of people binge drinking is continuing to fall, according to the Office for National Statistics.
The General Household Survey revealed that the number of men drinking more than 21 units a week has dropped from 29% to 21% from 2000 to 2006.
Only 12% of women are drinking 14 units or more a week - a drop of 5% since 2000.
Consumption among the young saw a sharp decrease. Weekly consumption among young men fell by 37% to 16.4 units and by 29% to 9 units for young women.
The survey also shows that awareness of alcohol units has risen from 79% of the population to 85% in the last ten years.
"There is still a long way to go to eradicate the problems caused by alcohol misuse which remain deeply embedded in our culture but the evidence suggests that the sensible drinking message is getting through to people," said David Poley, chief executive of drinks watchdog Portman Group.
"Awareness of alcohol units continues to rise because of drinks producers' commitment to promoting responsible drinking.
"All Portman Group member companies are unit labelling their drinks. They included responsible drinking messages on three billion drinks containers and on £150m worth of advertising in the last year alone.
"This combined with their financial backing for the Drinkaware Trust's sensible drinking campaigning is making a difference to our drinking culture."
British Beer and Pub Association director of communications Mark Hastings added: "It is clear that the nation's drinking habits are changing, and the effect has been the opposite to what was predicted when the Licensing Act came into force over two years ago.
"There has been no 'free for all', and instead, the message about sensible drinking is hitting home."
