Alcohol consumption has decreased by 31% in Ireland since 2001, according to a new report.

Commissioned by the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland (DIGI), the report found that the average person drank 9.96 litres of pure alcohol last year, down from 13 litres in 2001.

Beer remains Ireland’s most popular drink, with a 42.9% market share, followed by wine (28.3%) and spirits (22.6%).

On Newstalk Breakfast, psychologist Dr Anne Kehoe questioned whether these findings reflect a positive behaviour change.

“Alcohol has always been our drug of choice in this country up until very recently,” she said.

“We do seem to have if there is such a thing, an addictive nature as people; we’re heavy drinkers and heavy users of online gambling.

“We also seem to have a high use of illegal drugs; we do seem to veer that way.

“[Drugs] were not as common around 20 or 30 years ago, not as widely used, so I feel like our use of choice is changing.”

Three pints of Guinness, 2-3-16. Image: Sergio Azenha / Alamy

In relation to alcohol, she said attitudes are certainly changing.

“We’re seeing a prioritization of wanting to be healthy, wanting to be out and about, not hungover or influenced by something you did the day before,” she said.

“It is welcome because we have a long history with alcohol across many generations, and people have seen the impact of that in families.

“In some ways, there’s healing over time in that, but we still need to be very cautious because lots of young people are still drinking excessively.”

Perception

Dr Keogh also noted that the perception that everyone drinks alcohol in Ireland is being disproven to visitors.

“We’re watching people who come to live in Ireland say, ‘Hang on, they’re not as bad as I thought,’” she said.

“We’re not as influenced by alcohol as we have been, and people see that they have more choices.

“It’s extremely welcome news, and it’s great to see people embracing zero-alcohol beers, which would have seemed unusual 20 years ago.”

Alcohol consumption increased by 1.5% in Ireland from 2022 to 2023.

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Main image: A busy night in Temple Bar. Image: Martin Thomas Photography / Alamy Stock Photo