UK low risk drinking guidelines

To keep health risks from alcohol low, you should drink no more than 14 units a week, make sure you have several drink-free days, and never binge drink. Find out more about the UK Chief Medical Officers’ guidelines on weekly limits, single occasion drinking and not drinking during pregnancy.

The risk of developing a range of health problems increases the more you drink on a regular basis. That’s why the UK’s top doctors – the Chief Medical Officers – have created low risk drinking guidelines, to help you keep your risks from alcohol low.

It’s safest for both men and women to drink no more than 14 units a week, spread over three or more days with several drink-free days, and no bingeing.

UK low risk drinking guidelines

If you choose to drink alcohol, it’s important to understand the risks so you can make an informed choice. The UK Chief Medical Officers (CMOs) have developed these low risk drinking guidelines,¹ based on up-to-date scientific evidence, to help you do just that.

The guidelines offer advice on weekly/ regular drinking, single occasion drinking, and specific advice on why not drinking is the safest approach during pregnancy.

Weekly guidelines

The Chief Medical Officers' guidelines for both men and women are:

To keep health risks from alcohol to a low level it’s safest not to drink more than 14 units a week on a regular basis
If you regularly drink as much as 14 units per week, it's best to spread your drinking over three or more days. If you have one or two heavy drinking episodes a week, you increase your risk of death from long-term illness and from accidents and injuries
The risk of developing a range of health problems (including cancers of the mouth, throat and breast) increases the more you drink on a regular basis
If you wish to cut down the amount you drink, a good way to help achieve this is to have several drink-free days every week

14 units is equivalent to six pints of average strength beer or six medium (175ml) glasses of average strength wine

Don’t binge - single occasion drinking advice

The Chief Medical Officers' also offer advice for men and women who want to keep their short-term risks (as well as some longer-term risks) from single occasion drinking to a low level. You can reduce them by:

Limiting the total amount of alcohol you drink on any single occasion
Drinking more slowly, drinking with food, and alternating with water
Planning ahead to avoid problems - for example by making sure you can get home safely or that you have people you trust with you

The sorts of things that are more likely to happen if you misjudge your overall alcohol intake on a single occasion can include:

Accidents resulting in injury, causing death in some cases
Misjudging risky situations
Losing self-control (for example, engaging in unprotected sex)

Some groups of people are more likely to be affected by alcohol and should be more careful about their drinking on any occasion. For example, people who are at risk of falls, and anyone taking medication that may interact with alcohol.

‘Pre-loading’ (drinking before going out) is associated with higher levels of alcohol consumption, and greater risk.²

Alcohol and pregnancy

The Chief Medical Officers' guidelines are:

If you are pregnant or think you could become pregnant, the safest approach is not to drink alcohol at all, to keep risks to your baby to a minimum
Drinking in pregnancy can lead to long-term harm to the baby, with the more you drink the greater the risk

The risk of harm to the baby is likely to be low if you have drunk only small amounts of alcohol before you knew you were pregnant or during pregnancy.

Avoiding alcohol completely keeps risks for the baby to a minimum. If you didn’t know you were pregnant and drank alcohol during early pregnancy, talk to your GP or midwife about any concerns you have. Just because you may have drunk a little alcohol does not necessarily mean that your unborn baby has come to any harm.

If you’re worried about having drunk alcohol during pregnancy, the Chief Medical Officers’ low risk drinking guidelines advise you to talk to your doctor or midwife about it.

Alcohol-free childhood

The CMOs’ low risk drinking guidelines offer advice for adults.

When it comes to children and young people, there are additional consequences that can affect health, development and potentially getting into trouble with the law. That’s why the CMOs recommend an alcohol-free childhood is the healthiest and best option, with no alcohol until at least the age of 15 – and until 18 only with adult supervision.³

Aged 14 and under

Evidence shows:

Drinking prior to age 14 is associated with alcohol-related injuries, involvement in violent behaviours and suicidal thoughts and attempts. Young people who drink frequently or binge drink are more likely to be involved in fights, sustain injuries from fighting, and to commit violent offences.
Binge drinking and heavy alcohol use under 14-years-old are associated with adolescent sexual activity. Adolescents who use alcohol are more likely to have had sexual intercourse and multiple sexual partners.

Aged 15 and older

Even at age 15 or older, drinking can be hazardous to health - not drinking is the healthiest option for young people. The CMO guidance on the consumption of alcohol by children and young people says “If 15- to 17-year-olds do consume alcohol, they should do so infrequently and certainly on no more than one day a week. Young people aged 15 to 17 years should never exceed recommended adult daily limits and, on days when they drink, consumption should usually be below such levels.”

That’s because of evidence that shows:

Young people who binge drink in adolescence (15 to 16 years) are more likely to experience negative outcomes in the transition to adulthood. In particular, binge drinking at this age has been linked to a higher likelihood of involvement in other substance misuse, crime, lower educational attainment and drug dependence.
Drinking at this age is also associated with other substance abuse, employment problems and risky driving behaviours.

What is an alcohol unit?

One unit of alcohol is 10ml (ten millilitres) of pure alcohol. The number of units you are drinking depends on the size and strength of your drink.

As an example, a pint of average strength (4% ABV) beer has about two units in it, while a single measure (25ml) of typical spirits is one unit.

Use our unit and calorie calculator below to work out how much there is in what you drink.

Find out more about alcohol units here.

What are the risks?

Following the low risk drinking guidelines can help keep your risk low from accidents and injuries, physical or sexual abuse, alcohol poisoning and a range of long-term health conditions – including seven types of cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and mental health problems.

The UK Chief Medical Officers' Low Risk Drinking Guidelines are available to view, in full, online.