英国年轻人饮酒量下降

Diageo last week took a majority stake in Seedlip, a non-alcoholic spirit sold as an alternative to gin — a move seen by analysts as the drinks giant’s attempt to grab more of the growing teetotal market. The young are more abstemious than their elders, and manufacturers and marketers need to keep up.

帝亚吉欧(Diageo)不久前收购了Seedlip的多数股权，这是一种被作为金酒替代品出售的无酒精型烈酒——市场分析师们将此举解读为酒业巨头试图在日益扩张的无酒精饮料市场中分一杯羹。年轻一代相对于他们的长辈在饮酒方面更加节制，酒类生产商和营销机构必须跟上这种趋势。

For those of us who don’t drink or, in my case, only occasionally, a reduction in others’ drinking, along with a fall in the antisocial consequences, is a welcome development. At a wedding in Italy this summer, I marvelled as a group of Italian and French guests partied under a hot afternoon sun and late into the night, without anyone staggering or slurring in the way they would inevitably have done in the UK.

对于我们当中那些不喝酒——或者以我自己为例——仅偶尔喝一杯的人来说，他人饮酒量的下降，以及与之相随的危害社会公共利益问题的减少，是一种令人愉快的新变化。今年夏天在意大利的一个婚礼活动上，我面对一群在炎热午后大玩派对直至深夜的法国和意大利宾客深感惊讶，因为没有任何人因为饮酒过量而走路困难或口齿不清，而在英国，人们通常免不了总会这样。

But how much less are people drinking? Is overdoing the booze really on the decline?

但人们的饮酒量究竟下降了多少?饮酒过量的情况是否真的越来越少了?

Alcohol is largely confined to certain countries. Much of the world does not, for religious or cultural reasons, drink at all. Worldwide, in 2016, 57 per cent of those aged 15 or over had not drunk alcohol in the previous 12 months, according to World Health Organization figures.

酒精消费总的来说集中于某些特定国家。全球许多国家出于宗教或文化原因完全不饮酒。世界卫生组织(World Health Organization)提供的数据显示，2016年全球15岁以上人口中，有57%的人在过去12个月里从未饮酒。

Much drinking is confined to certain parts of the world. The only regions where more than half the over-15 population drank alcohol were the Americas, Europe and the western Pacific, the WHO said. The highest per capita consumption was in Europe, although European drinking had decreased, from 12.3 litres per person in 2005 to 9.8 litres in 2016.

大部分饮酒人群集中在世界某些地区。世界卫生组织表示，15岁以上人口中饮用饮酒比例过半的地区只有美洲、欧洲和西太平洋。欧洲是全球范围内人均酒精消费量最高的地区，不过欧洲人已经开始减少饮酒，从2005年人均饮酒12.3升降至2016年人均饮酒9.8升。

There are signs of increasing teetotalism in drinking countries. In the UK, where Diageo is headquartered, one in five people aged 16 and over said they did not drink at all in 2017, according to the Office for National Statistics. The trend is particularly noticeable in the younger generation. Among 16- to 24-year-olds, the proportion who claimed not to drink rose from 19 per cent in 2005 to 22.8 per cent in 2018. Among 25- to 44-year-olds, non-drinkers rose from 15.5 per cent in 2005 to 20.6 per cent in 2017.

在有饮酒习惯的国家还出现了禁酒主义群体扩大的迹象。以帝亚吉欧总部所在的英国为例，来自英国国家统计署(Office for National Statistics)的数据显示，16岁以上群体中有五分之一的人声称自己2017年全年未曾饮酒。这一趋势在较为年轻的代际中表现得尤为明显。在16至24岁的年轻人中，声称自己不喝酒的比例已从2005年的19%上升至2018年的22.8%。而在25岁至44岁的群体中，滴酒不沾者所占比重从2005年的15.5%升至2017年的20.6%。

The over-65s showed a different pattern: 24.2 per cent said they were non-drinkers in 2017 but that was a fall from 29.4 per cent in 2005.

65岁以上人群则表现出了不同的趋势：2017年该群体中自称不喝酒的人数占比为24.2%，相对于2005年的29.4%出现了下滑。

The consequences of a drop in drinking are difficult to assess. While alcohol is often implicated in street fighting, domestic violence and accidents, it is not the only factor. The sober can be guilty of causing them too.

饮酒减少的后果很难评估。虽然人们常把酒精与街头斗殴、家庭暴力以及事故联系在一起，但酒精并不是唯一作用因素。滴酒不沾的人同样可能发生上述问题。

One way of looking at drinking’s effects is who ends up in hospital. In England, the number of hospital admissions where an alcohol-related condition was either the primary or contributory reason has increased every year since 2008, according to Public Health England.

评估酒精影响的方式之一是分析哪些人被送进了医院。英国公共卫生部(Public Health England)提供的数据显示，英国以酒精相关症状为主要原因或影响因素入院治疗的人数自2008年以来每年持续上升。

But, again, there were generational differences. Among those admitted to hospital for reasons that were primarily alcohol-related, the biggest increase was in the over-65s, followed by 40- to 64-year-olds. There has been a significant reduction in alcohol-related hospital admissions among teenagers. “Alcohol-specific hospital admissions in the under 18s have been falling every year over the past decade,” Public Health England said.

但这其中同样存在代际差异。在入院治疗的主要原因与酒精相关的群体中，增幅最为显著的是65岁以上人群，紧随其后的是40至64岁人群。青少年中因饮酒问题入院治疗的人数大幅下降。英国公共卫生部指出，“18岁以下群体中因酒精问题入院治疗的人数在过去十年间持续下降”。