European Union - Data - 12-3-12

(Alcohol Consumption Trends in the EU) "Although the European per capita consumption of alcohol has remained nearly constant over the past decade, this apparent steadiness hides two opposing trends. The Nordic countries and eastern Europe have seen an increase in adult per capita consumption, whereas western and southern Europe have experienced a decrease. Beer is the most prominent alcoholic beverage in almost all regions. Only in southern Europe does wine remain the most frequently consumed alcoholic drink, but even in southern Europe, the consumption of wine has been decreasing at a high rate whereas beer consumption is only rising slightly. This decrease in wine intake is mainly responsible for the strong downward trend in total alcohol consumption in southern Europe. The Nordic countries are moving in the opposite direction to the southern countries, although the changes are not as marked: wine consumption has steadily increased in the past decade while beer has lost some of its popularity. Southern and eastern Europe are the two regions that show the largest amount of change in their total alcohol consumption, but these changes tend to cancel each other out and are not reflected in the EU average."