So how much do Aussies really drink?

A new study from Roy Morgan Research shows that in any four week period in 2015 Australians are drinking on average 23 glasses each, which works out to be 426 million glasses.

According to the study, if this figure were 100 glasses, 48 would be beer, 25 still wine, 11 glasses of spirits, six would be “ready to drink’, four sparkling wine or champagnes, three ciders, two liqueurs and only one fortified wine.

So beer is the biggest alcohol in this country. With 50 percent of the alcohol consumed by 18-24 year olds being beer, and 42 percent for those over 65.

Wine is the big thing for those over 65, with 48 of the 100 glasses.

Andrew Price, Consumer Products General Manager at Roy Morgan Research said; “Especially striking is the fact that although a higher proportion of Aussie adults drink wine, those who drink beer consume it in greater volumes. It is also interesting to apply the 100-glass breakdown to specific groups, such as age brackets, as described above. Comparing volumes consumed between drinkers from different socio-economic circumstances can also be interesting. Beer consumption varies dramatically between the top, high-value AB socio-economic quintile of the population (who drink 45 glasses of beer per average 100 glasses of alcohol) and the lowest, least wealthy FG quintile (57 glasses of beer consumed for every 100 glasses of booze).”

There is a difference between the alcohol drunk by men and women according to the study.

“Not surprisingly, the quantities of different beverages consumed by Aussie women and men per 100 glasses vary significantly. While beer accounts for 60 of every 100 glasses drunk by men (compared to 19 for women), women drink greater volumes of almost all the other beverages,” Price stated.