A nation of beer-swilling dieters?

With Americans apparently wary of rising obesity rates, much of the sales growth was in newer brands aimed at the health conscious.

The Budweiser brewer attributed its success to strong sales of its Michelob Ultra low-carbohydrate beer, launched in late 2002, and Bud Light.

Despite this, Americans drink much less per head than world leaders the Czechs.

Czechs drink 278 pints (158 litres) per head a year, according to Euromonitor/Top Ten of Everything.

This puts them ahead of the Irish (265 pints/151 litres) and the Germans (217 pints/123 litres).

The UK is in eighth spot, with consumption of 171 pints, or 97 litres, per head per year.