UK drinkers intoxicated once a week, top global ranks: Global Drug SurveyStudy

File photo shows drunk revelers fighting outside a pub in the British capital London.

A new study has shown that alcohol drinkers in the United Kingdom get drunk more than any other nationality in the world.

Results of the study by the Global Drug Survey published on Thursday showed that drinkers in Britain tend to get drunk more than 50 times a year, or nearly once in a week.

It said most of those who drink across the UK are doing it in a potentially harmful way and hardly regret about their bad habits.

Some 5,400 people from across the UK were interviewed in the survey. It covered more than 120,000 drinkers from 36 countries, and said the United States, Canada and Australia, all English-speaking nations, were the most intoxicated in the world and closely followed the UK.

Adam Winstock, who led the study, said UK government had failed to impose enough restrictions on heavy drinking which could lead to injuries and self-harm for drinkers and others.

“We get told too much is bad, and it is, but current guidelines fail to accept the pleasure of intoxication and give little guide on difference between being a little drunk and a lot drunk,” said Winstock, adding, “In the UK we don't tend to do moderation, we end up getting drunk as the point of the evening.”A drink industry lobby group said it was doubtful about the results of the study, insisting fewer people were drinking in the UK based on similar studies by major health organizations.

“This report runs contrary to the vast weight of the data,” said a spokesman of The Alcohol Information Partnership, adding, “ .... drinking in the UK has been falling for more than a decade and Brits are actually drinking less than many of our European neighbors.”