Norwegian youth and alcohol

On average, Norwegian youth are 14.5 years old when they drink alcohol for the first time. Young people between 15 and 20 drinks on average 5.5 liters of pure alcohol a year. It is as much as in the 388 0.33-bottles of beer - or 16 cans and four bottles.

Alcohol consumption among young people seems to increase dramatically. Youth drinking more often and more of the time. There are grounds for concern.

The reason for the increase is twofold. For the first is the more popular and more common to drink among young people. Young people drinking alcohol in several social contexts than before and they do it to excess. Another reason is that prices have gone down. Alcohol is simply becoming more available, also for youth, "he said. The corresponding figures for adults are not available, but figures from Statistics Norway show that it sold 6.03 liters of pure alcohol per person over 15 in Norway last year.


Sources: http://www.dagbladet.no/nyheter/2004/07/11/402799.html