Aussies guzzle 600 swimming pools of beer in 1 year

Melbourne, May 3 (ANI): Australians may have cut back on booze, but they still drink enough to fill 600 Olympic size swimming pools a year.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported the first decrease in alcohol consumption since 2002, and comes despite a shift from beer to spirits.

There was 182 million litres of pure alcohol available for consumption in 2010-2011, compared with 184 million the previous year, New.com.au reported.

Beer made up 42 per cent of all alcohol sold - down 3.4 per cent, and wine made up 37 per cent - down 0.6 per cent.

While Australians have been turning away from beer and wine, they have developed a taste for spirits. The sale of spirits increased by 4.8 per cent.

Spirits and pre-mixed drinks made up 20 per cent of all alcohol sales.

Fifty years ago beer made up 76 per cent of Aussie alcohol consumption.

On average, each person over the age of 15 drank 10 litres of pure alcohol last year, which equates to around 2.2 standard drinks a day.

While the 1.1 per cent drop in consumption might sound promising for health workers, it is still more than the recommended two standard drinks per day. (ANI)