The government's annual peek into the average British family's shopping trolley has revealed a nation which harbours an increasing fondness for boozing at home and prefers sugary foods to fruit and vegetables.

The family food report, which uses consumer statistics to provide a snapshot of how we eat and drink, shows that purchases of alcoholic drinks by UK households have risen by nearly 10% in a year and that the average quantity of alcoholic drinks consumed per person over 13 years old is 0.97 litres a week.

This increase, which appears to confirm suggestions that Britons now prefer drinking at home, might also explain why the amount of alcohol we bought to accompany meals out last year fell by 5.5%.

There was mixed news for restaurateurs in today's report. Although the figures showed a 12% drop in eating out at Indian, Chinese and Thai restaurants between 2003 and 2004, they also showed that expenditure on eating out has risen 50% between 1995 and 2004. The average person now spends £10.93 a week on eating away from home.

The survey recorded a slight fall in the consumption of fruit and vegetables, with the average person eating 3.7 portions a day, compared with the recommended five portions. The figures show in 2003-04 the average person spent £1.80 a week on vegetables, excluding potatoes, and £1.60 on fruit.

They also reveal that the percentage of food energy derived from fats and sugars has risen slightly and the consumption of salt is still well above that recommended by doctors.

Whereas purchases of soft drinks, alcohol, milk, processed cheese and yoghurt appear to be on the rise, fruit and vegetables, butter, sugar, white fish, tea and bread are all being bought less. In total, UK residents bring home £22.67 of food and drink per person, per week. This includes £2.65 on alcoholic drinks.

The research also pinpointed a range of regional difference within the UK. It said: "Households in Scotland purchase one-and-a-half times more sandwiches to eat outside the home than households in Northern Ireland.

"In England, households drink one-and-a-half times the amount of beverages outside the home than households in Northern Ireland which purchase nearly one-and-a-half times more ice cream, desserts and cakes when eating out than Welsh households. Scottish households purchase the most soft drinks while Welsh households purchase the largest quantity of alcoholic drink outside the home."

The 2003-04 Expenditure and Food Survey was compiled by collecting the diaries of 16,965 people within 7,048 UK households about their spending over two weeks