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Standard Drinks and Guidelines Explained

3 minute read

When it comes to understanding guidelines and putting them into context, a ‘standard drink’ can be useful. Here’s everything you need to know.

An illustration comparing a glass of spirits, a glass of wine, and a glass of beer, linked with equal signs to show equivalent alcohol content.

Image credit - Standard Drinks and Guidelines Explained

A standard drink is a measure of the alcohol in your drink. It’s the same for beer, wine and spirits, and is expressed as grams of ethanol ⁽¹⁾. In New Zealand, a standard drink contains ten grams ⁽²⁾.

The purpose of a standard drink is to provide consistency across beverage types and help translate the science behind drinking and health into something easily understood. This is important for providing drinking guidelines and advice. The alcohol drinking advice from Te Hiringa Hauora/Health Promotion Agency is for women to not drink more than 10 stadnard drinks per week and for men to not drink more than 15 standard drinks per week ⁽³⁾.

Standard drink sizes are different across countries, but they always ensure the amount of alcohol is the same in any beverage

Infographic explaining how much alcohol is in an Australian Standard drink, as well as how many standard drinks are in beer, wine and spirits

Image credit - Infographic explaining how much alcohol is in a New Zealand standard drink, as well as how many standard drinks are in common drinks beer, wine and spirits

Not all countries use the same standard drink size as New Zealand ⁽¹⁾. Nevertheless, in each case, the same measure applies whether you’re drinking beer, wine or spirits.

Some places, like the UK, also refer to a ‘unit' rather than a 'standard drink'.

For example:

A standard unit in the UK contains 8 grams of ethanol
In Australia and France, the standard is 10 grams
A Mexican standard drink contains 13 grams
There are 14 grams of ethanol in a standard drink in the US, Argentina and Chile

Standard drinks can help you understand drinking guidelines

It’s true that a standard drink doesn’t always translate into how drinks are actually served. For example, many cocktails contain several different spirits or are mixed with wine or champagne, so they’ll most likely contain more alcohol than in a standard drink. Also, since wine comes in different strengths, and glasses are available in different sizes, the amount of alcohol you drink may not be standard. This is especially true if you’re at home and top up your glass before you’re finished.

However, a standard drink is still a useful concept. Since the concentrations of drinks are different, a standard drink unit ensures that the amount of ethanol in a serving is always the same. This is important for sharing information about drinking and its effects on your health.

Using a standard drink allows for guidance on levels of drinking, regardless of whether the drinks are spirits, wine or beer. Plus, advice is generally given in terms of the number of standard drinks it’s best not to exceed in a day or a week, or on an occasion.