Apparent Per Capita Alcohol Consumption: National, State, and Regional Trends 1977-2018

This data set contains the per capita (persons aged 14+) consumption of ethanol (in gallons) for each state, Washington D.C., and totals for census regions and the United States as a whole, for the years 1977-2018. This includes total ethanol consumed as well as consumption by three categories: beer, wine, and shots of liquor ("spirits"). The PDF includes a method to convert the ethanol variables into total drinks of each type. I used this method to create columns for how many beers, glasses of wine, shots of liquor, and total drinks were consumed.<br><br>

The PDF doesn't say how many ounces of fluid is in each drink type (except for the number_of_drinks_total variable) so I used the information provided by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism here - https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-health/overview-alcohol-consumption/what-standard-drink. Please note that the number_of_drinks_total variable is based on the conversion formula provided, not by adding the individual drink categories together and therefore will be slightly different than that way of measuring it.<br><br>

This data comes from a report by Dr. Megan E. Slater and Dr. Hillel R. Alpert at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (downloaded here https://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/surveillance115/CONS18.htm). That report is one of the files available to download and is included as it explains the methodology the two authors used for the data. I am not affiliated with the original report at all. If you do use this data please also cite the original report.<br><br>

When using this data consider that it is rate per capita (persons aged 14+) based on the population in that state so states that experience lots of visitors (e.g. Nevada and Washington D.C.) may have incorrect numbers.