(italianalmanac.org) Italians are drinking less than ever, according to a report out Friday that countered recent alarms about a surge in youth bingeing. "The survey shows that alcohol consumption is dropping steadily," said survey chief Allaman Allamani of the Doxa research agency.

He highlighted that, while Italians were in fact boozing more in their late teens and 20s, "they tend to get back to traditional Mediterranean habits as early as their 40s". The amount of plonk Italians knock back has halved to about three glasses of wine a day over the last 30 years, Doxa said.

Youngsters are turning more to beer but wine remains the favourite tipple of the 93% of the population who are drinkers.