One in four Jersey adults drinking at levels that could damage their health

People in Jersey consume more alcohol than their UK counterparts - with a quarter drinking at levels that could damage their health. 

That is according to the government's 'Alcohol Profile' report which has laid bare the island's drinking habits.

On average it's around eight pints of beer, or two and a half bottles of wine a week

This was higher than the UK, where the average alcohol consumption was 9.8 litres per year.

Peter Bradley, Jersey's Director of Public Health, says the damage caused by alcohol is wide ranging.

"So in the short term, obviously the possibility of accidents and maybe associated with violence and other short term unfortunate outcomes socially. And then in the longer term as we go through life, it's associated with lots of different medical conditions but particularly high blood pressure, heart disease, and cancer and even our mental health can suffer if we drink too much."

The island's health boss says there could still be a way to go when it comes to lowering these levels:

"We did have a very high consumption for a while and that has now got to a stage where it's much more like the consumption you see in the UK. It still is a little bit higher though so we maybe have a little way to go, and it does hide that mixed picture so where as some people have really reduced their drinking there are still some people around 1 in 4 people who are drinking at harmful levels."

However, overall levels of drinking in the island have dropped over the past decade.

The number of young people who are tee total has doubled in the past seen years - with 14% of adults saying they don't drink at all.

Other key findings: