According to a recent post on Finder.com.au, which analysed data from the ABS, released at the start of the month, alcohol consumption is up for the first time in nine years among Australians.

The average person over the age of 15 is drinking 9.7 litres of pure alcohol as of 2016. This equates to 5 beers, a bottle wine, 3 mixed drinks and half a cider a week, per person.

Finder.com.au went on to attribute this rise in drinking to our “unaffordable housing market”. A money expert from the site, Bessie Hassan explained that as property prices rise, home ownership becomes increasingly more out of reach for some Australians. They are now turning to smaller lifestyle luxuries like traveling, experiences and nights out drinking.