What does ABV mean? Alcohol by volume explained
ABV stands for alcohol by volume: how much of a drink, measured by volume, is pure alcohol. A wine at 13% ABV has 13ml of alcohol in every 100ml, which comes to about 97ml in a standard 750ml bottle.
You'll find it on the label, written as a percentage followed by ABV or % vol. In the UK, any drink stronger than 1.2% has to show its alcohol strength, in the same field of view as the name and the volume. (Bromley Council Trading Standards)
Typical ABV of common drinks
Alcohol percentage varies widely between drinks, and within them. Many beers and ciders sit between about 3.5% and 6%, most wines between 11% and 15%, and spirits usually start at 37.5%. (Drinkaware)
Is the ABV on the label exact?
Close, but not exact. UK rules allow a small margin either side of the figure on the label: half a percentage point for most wines and for beers up to 5.5%, a little more for stronger beers, ciders and some fortified wines, and 0.3 of a point for spirits. (food labelling rules, wine labelling rules)
The margin is there because alcohol levels can vary slightly from batch to batch and between laboratory tests. Without it, producers would need new labels for every production run.
Why ABV matters if you're cutting back
ABV is one of the easiest things to change without changing how many drinks you have. Swapping a 5.2% lager for a 3.8% one takes a pint from more than three units to just over two, and choosing a lighter wine does the same for every glass.
To turn ABV into units for your own drinks, see What is an alcohol unit?