First, results clearly show that average alcohol consumption was lower during the lockdown period than in previous years (2007 – 2018). Second, although the seasonal pattern is roughly similar, there are some differences: while in previous years alcohol consumption steadily increased during spring and peaked in mid-summer, drinking levels decreased during spring 2020, which made the summer peak somewhat abrupter. After the summer period, the decline in alcohol consumption was steeper and steadier during the lockdown period. Last but not least, results from previous years show a small peak around Christmas -although rather small compared with the usual “January effect” reported in the literature (Lemmens and Knibbe, 1993; Uitenbroek, 1996; Carpenter, 2003)-, whereas in January 2021 not only no peak is observed but the lowest drinking levels of the whole observation period were reported.
