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Aim  To identify independent relationships between socio‐economic status and drinking patterns and related consequences and to identify socio‐economic groups at risk for heavier consumption.

Design and setting  Three comparable national telephone surveys were utilized: 1995, 2000 and 2004. The respondents were aged 18–65 years. Contextual information includes that a number of liberalized alcohol policy changes occurred over the time of the surveys.

Results  Educational qualification, income and occupation were associated independently with alcohol consumption. There were indications that the different dimensions of drinking (quantity and frequency) had different relationships with socio‐economic status (SES). For example, lower SES groups drank heavier quantities while higher SES groups drank more frequently. SES, however, did not play a major role predicting drinking consequences once …