Scotland is still “drinking too much as a nation”, health chiefs have warned, despite new figures showing a decline in the amount of alcohol sold per person.
Per person, the amount of pure alcohol sold fell 3% between 2011 and 2012, according to a report from NHS Health Scotland.
Drink sales were 8% lower than in 2009, the equivalent of about 10 million fewer bottles of wine, three million bottles of spirits or 35 million pints of beer in a year.
Despite that, the figures show that 10.9 litres of pure alcohol was sold for every adult in Scotland, the equivalent of every person drinking 21 units of alcohol a week, the safe drinking limit for men but more than the 14 units a week recommended for women.
Alcohol sales in Scotland were 6% higher than in 1994 and last year 19% more drink per person was sold in Scotland than in England and Wales. Sales of vodka per person in Scotland were more than double that in England.
While the equivalent amount of pure alcohol per person sold in pubs and clubs in Scotland fell by 34% between 1994 and last year, the amount sold in off-sales increased by 45% over the same period.
Last year around two-thirds of all drink sold (69%) was in off-sales, according to the figures.
A total of 60% of the alcohol sold in off-sales and supermarkets cost less than 50p per unit the Scottish Government’s proposed minimum price for alcohol.