Alcohol down stats portrait reveals

ALCOHOL consumption in France has halved between 1960 and 2000, according to this year’s statistical portrait of the country.

The annual Tableaux de l'économie française 2011, compiled by the government statistics body Insee, reveals that homes are getting larger and the average French person throws away half a tonne of rubbish a year.

Between 1960 and 2000, alcohol consumption per person has halved. A spokesman for Insee said: "This drop rests entirely down to the drop in consumption of wine, which still remains the most popular, ahead of strong alcohols and beer."

The average French person drinks 45.5 litres of wine a year, down 30 per cent in 20 years.
The report also reveals:

36 per cent of homes have more than one vehicle (26 per cent in 1990 and 16 per cent in 1980).

79 per cent of people own a mobile phone.

63 per cent of children aged three or under are looked after by their parents at home.

€950 a month is the poverty threshold in France: 7.8 million people live below it, 2.3 million of them children.

There are 214,000 doctors in France, the highest figure ever recorded.

The amount of rubbish thrown away per French person is 543kg: the EU average is 524kg. The average person in France produces 5.2 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.

The average surface area of main homes is 91m², up 9m² since 1984.

Corsica is the least populated region of France with 35.8 people per km², followed by the Limousin, with 44 inhabitants/km². The Ile-de-France is the most dense with 982,2 inhabitants/km².

There are 10.6 divorces each year for 1,000 marriages.

Woman are 53 per cent of the electorate, but only 19 per cent and 22 per cent of the elected members of the National Assembly and Senate.