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Alcohol Consumption, 2006

(persons 18 years of age and over)

The following table lists the amount of alcohol consumed by Americans 18 years and older during 2006, according to sex, drinking status, level of consumption in the past year, and number of days in the past year with five or more drinks.

	Both sexes	Male	Female
Drinking status¹
All	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%
Lifetime abstainer	25.0	17.8	31.5
Former drinker	14.1	14.9	13.5
Infrequent	7.9	7.1	8.7
Regular	6.2	7.7	4.4
Current drinker	60.8	67.4	54.9
Infrequent	12.4	9.2	15.5
Regular	48.0	57.6	39.2
Level of alcohol consumption in past year for current drinkers²
All drinking levels	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%
Light	67.7	58.8	77.8
Moderate	24.0	33.0	13.9
Heavier	8.3	8.2	8.4
Number of days in the past year with 5 or more drinks
All current drinkers	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%
No days	67.0	57.8	77.3
At least 1 day	33.0	42.2	22.7
1–11 days	17.9	20.5	15.1
12 or more days	15.1	21.7	7.6

1. Lifetime abstainers had fewer than 12 drinks in their lifetime. Former drinkers had at least 12 drinks in their lifetime and none in the past year. Former infrequent drinkers are former drinkers who had fewer than 12 drinks in any one year. Former regular drinkers are former drinkers who had at least 12 drinks in any one year. Current drinkers had 12 drinks in their lifetime and at least one drink in the past year. Current infrequent drinkers are current drinkers who had fewer than 12 drinks in the past year. Current regular drinkers are current drinkers who had at least 12 drinks in the past year.

2. Level of alcohol consumption categories are defined as follows: light drinkers, up to 3 drinks per week; moderate drinkers, 4–14 drinks per week for men and 4–7 drinks per week for women; heavier drinkers, more than 14 drinks per week for men and more than 7 drinks per week for women in 2007.

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Health, United States, 2007.

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