‘Older drinkers’ drinking any amount of alcohol (1 unit and above) and ‘Unsafe drinkers’ drinking over recommended limits (>21 units for men and >14 for women) are detailed in table 2, by age, sex and ethnicity for the older population. Missing ethnicity data accounted for 10.6% of older people drinking any alcohol and 14.4% for older people drinking over recommended limits. As in table 1, a further breakdown of ethnicity is shown, where this was available. Compared with the sample of older drinkers, unsafe drinkers contained a higher proportion of males, white and Irish ethnic groups; as well as a lower proportion of Caribbean, African and Asian groups.