Third of islanders in Jersey binge drinking says report

The report says alcohol consumption is down since 2000

Binge drinking remains an issue in Jersey, but overall consumption is down, says a report.

It said 33% of islanders were binge drinking monthly or more, about the same figure for the last seven years.

Average alcohol consumption per Jersey adult in 2022 was 12 litres of pure alcohol a year, or about 8.1 pints of beer or 2.6 bottles of wine a week.

That figure is down from about 16 litres in 2000, said the report, called Jersey Alcohol Profile.

People in OECD countries, the club of industrialised nations, consumed an average of 8.7 litres of alcohol in 2019, the latest figures available, said the report.

It showed alcohol was a factor in many health and social problems in Jersey, such as hospital admissions, deaths, domestic violence and crime.

It said, in 2021, there were 725 hospital admissions specifically related to alcohol per 100,000 population, similar to the English rate of 626 per 100,000.

Two thirds of alcohol-specific hospital admissions were men, the report showed.

The report said alcohol played a role in almost one in six of all crimes recorded in Jersey in 2022, with 32% of assaults and serious assaults, 11% of domestic assaults and 23% of offences in the St Helier night-time economy.

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