Which countries drink the most alcohol?

A major change in the way alcohol is taxed in the UK is set to push up the prices of the strongest alcohol drinks.

The tax hikes of up to 20% have been criticised by the Wine and Spirit Trade Association, who said the government had chosen to "impose more inflationary misery on consumers".

With the UK drinking an estimated 11.45 litres of pure alcohol per capita every single year, it's not hard to imagine why people might feel disappointed by the shake-up.

But how does the country's alcohol consumption compare to the rest of the world? After all, Britain does have a reputation for its pub culture and weekend binge drinking.

Surprisingly though, it isn't even in the top 10, as shown by data collected by the World Health Organization (WHO) showing consumption during 2019.

Which countries drink the most alcohol? (in litres of pure alcohol per capita)

• Czech Republic - 14.26

• Latvia - 13.19

• Moldova - 12.85

• Germany - 12.79

• Lithuania - 12.78

• Ireland - 12.75

• Spain - 12.67

• Uganda - 12.48

• Bulgaria - 12.46

• Luxembourg - 12.45

Which countries drink the least alcohol? (in litres of pure alcohol per capita)

• Somalia, Bangladesh, Kuwait, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia (5-way tie) - 0.00

• Afghanistan - 0.013

• Libya - 0.027

• Yemen - 0.034

• Egypt - 0.14

• Syrian Arab Republic - 0.19

• Bhutan - 0.21

• Indonesia - 0.22

• Pakistan - 0.31

• Djibouti - 0.36

Read more: Consumers to see ‘biggest single alcohol duty increase in almost 50 years’

Share of adults who drink by country

Luxembourg has by far the largest percentage of adults who've drank alcohol within a 12-month period, according to the WHO.

The data from 2016 shows 91.8% of the small European nation's country's adults to be drinkers, followed by 81.3% of Ireland, 81.2% of Switzerland and 79.4% of both Austria and Germany.

Across Europe, for example, more than two-thirds do in most countries, the data shows, while typically 5 to 10 percent of adults in the Middle East and North Africa drank within the preceding year.

Just 0.1% of people in Libya had drank alcohol within a 12-month period, followed by 0.6% in Kuwait, and 0.7% in both Afghanistan and Yemen.

Read more: Labour: Alcohol duty shake-up may push pubs over the edge

Countries with the most heavy drinking sessions

Of course, there's a difference between enjoying the occasional tipple and a heavy session, which is why the WHO has also collected data on binge drinking.

It defines "heavy episodic drinking" by the proportion of adult drinkers who have had at least six standard alcoholic drinks or more on at least one occasion in the past 30 days.

Many African nations were scored the highest in this regard, with the 88.1% of adult drinkers in Equatorial Guinea binging over a 30-day period.

This compares to 86.20% of drinkers in Gabon, 82.60% in Congo, 81.60% in Angola and 81.00% in the Cook Islands, in the South Pacific.

On the other end of the scale, just 1.9% of drinkers had binged in Yemen, compared to 2% in both Afghanistan and Syria, 2.1% in Libya, and 2.9% in Saudi Arabia.

Read more: This Is Why It's So Hard To Stop Drinking Alcohol After Just One

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