Industries in Depth

Which countries drink the most alcohol?

Arwen Armbrecht
Senior Writer, Forum Agenda
Share:
Our Impact
What's the World Economic Forum doing to accelerate action on Industries in Depth?
The Big Picture
Explore and monitor how Agriculture, Food and Beverage is affecting economies, industries and global issues
A hand holding a looking glass by a lake
Crowdsource Innovation
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
Stay up to date:

Future of Global Health and Healthcare

The biggest drinkers in developed economies are in Europe, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Lithuania was the largest consumer among the 34 OECD nations, with adults imbibing an average 14 litres of alcohol a year. Austria, Estonia and the Czech Republic were close behind.

Cultural and economic factors play a big part in the rankings. Generally, alcohol consumption rises with the living standard of an economy. In addition, countries with the highest consumption tend to have strong traditions of drinking. More abstemious nations, such as Indonesia, Turkey, India and Israel, tend to have religious or other cultural norms that limit drinking.

The OECD report warned nevertheless that hazardous drinking and heavy periodic drinking are on the rise, especially in women and young people. World Health Organisation data shows that alcohol accounts for nearly 6% of global deaths.

151111-alcohol consumption oecd chart


Image: A woman takes a glass of vodka during a vodka presentation. REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenkoi

Author: Donald Armbrecht is a freelance writer and social media producer.

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Share:
World Economic Forum logo
Global Agenda

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

Why having low-carbon buildings also makes financial sense

Guy Grainger

September 18, 2024

About us

Engage with us

  • Sign in
  • Partner with us
  • Become a member
  • Sign up for our press releases
  • Subscribe to our newsletters
  • Contact us

Quick links

Language editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

Sitemap

© 2024 World Economic Forum