This factsheet brings together current research based knowledge about the use of alcohol by young people in New Zealand.
Young men are the heaviest drinkers.
Half the women who drank more heavily were also in this age group. Almost a third of the 18 to 24 year old males reported that they felt drunk at least once a week. Almost a quarter of the 16 and 17 years old males, and almost one in ten of the 14 and 15 year males, drank 6 or more drinks on a single occasion at least weekly. More than a third of the 16 to 24 year old women drank enough to feel drunk at least once a month. For one in eight this was at least once a week.