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Want to check how many units you’re drinking? Use our unit calculator to work out your average weekly consumption.

Understanding the amount of alcohol in your drink is a really useful way to keep track of your alcohol consumption.

Check your units

Measuring units

Units provide a simple way for us to calculate the quantity of pure alcohol in a drink using its strength and size.

One unit equals 10ml or 8g of pure alcohol. You can work out how much alcohol is in your drink - based on its strength and size - by using the following equation:

• strength (alcohol by volume or ABV) x the volume of the drink (in millilitres) ÷ 1,000 = the total number of units in your drink

So to find the number of units in a pint of 4% ABV beer, calculate:

• 4 (ABV%) x 568 (ml) ÷ 1,000 = 2.3 units

or

For a medium-sized glass of 13% ABV wine calculate:

• 13 (ABV%) x 175 (ml) ÷ 1,000 = 2.3 units

To make things a little quicker, use our unit calculator or check the table below:

Units table for some of the more popular drinks

Type of drink	Number of alcohol units
Pint of lower-strength lager/beer/cider (568ml, ABV 3.6%)	2 units
Pint of ordinary-strength lager/beer/cider (568ml, ABV 4%)	2.3 units
Pint of higher-strength lager/beer/cider (568ml, ABV 5.2%)	3 units
Bottle of lager/beer/cider (330ml, ABV 5%)	1.7 units
Can of lager/beer/cider (500ml, ABV 5.5%)	2.8 units
Small glass of wine (125ml, ABV 13%)	1.6 units
Standard glass of wine (175ml, ABV 13%)	2.3 units
Large glass of wine (250ml, ABV 13%)	3.3 units
Alcopop (275ml, ABV 4.5%)	1.2 units
Single shot of spirits (25ml, ABV 40%)	1 unit
Double shot of spirits (50ml, ABV 40%)	2 units

Drinking guidelines

The UK’s Chief Medical Officers have published guidelines on the maximum amount of alcohol adults should drink across a week to keep health risks to a low level. You can read the low risk drinking guidelines on the government's website.

Download the free Try Dry app whether you want to take on a challenge, cut down on your alcohol consumption or go totally alcohol-free.

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