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Survey: 1 in 5 Germans Drink to Get Drunk

Posted on: Wednesday, 21 July 2004, 06:00 CDT

LONDON - Almost 1 in 5 German adults - or 17 percent - believe the point of drinking is to get drunk, according to a survey released Wednesday.

Only 8 percent of Britons drink to become stupefied, according to the survey by Mintel, a market research firm.

"Drinking can be more of a low-key social event in Britain than some may have believed," said Michelle Strutton, consumer analyst at Mintel. "Although Germans may not go drinking as often as the British, when they do drink, many do want to get drunk."

The average German adult drank 255 pints of beer last year, 35 more pints than his British counterpart, the survey found.

Mintel's survey of 35,000 consumers covered France, Italy, Spain, Germany and Britain.

Spain, the third-largest consumer, was the fastest-growing market for beer, but Italy was likely to overtake it. Beer consumption in Spain grew by 17 percent since 1998.

France's consumption was down 13 percent since 1998, though sales of premium beers were holding their own.

Britain has the highest percentage of beer drinkers in Europe, with 61 percent of adults - including 82 percent of men.

In the United States, annual consumption per person in 2002 was around 175 pints, according to industry figures.

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