Figures released today by the Department of Health show the UK drinks industry is on track to meet its target to take 1 billion units of alcohol out of the market by the end of 2015 by reducing the strength of drinks and introducing new ranges of lower alcohol and lighter tasting drinks.
The first report, explains the interim findings about progress that has been made towards the pledge.
It shows that 1.3bn fewer units of alcohol were sold between 2011 and 2012, and when only the change in ABV within product categories is considered, this equates to a reduction of 253 million units of alcohol.
This represents a quarter of the billion unit reduction that signatories have committed to achieving over the four years to end 2015.
Henry Ashworth, Portman Group Chief Executive and Chair of the Responsibility Deal Alcohol Network, said:
"It is good news that producers and retailers have already removed 253 million units of alcohol from the UK market and are on track to remove 1 billion units by the end of 2015. This report shows the first year results of this four year pledge so it is important that we stay focused on continuing this industry-wide innovation."
