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Yes, science has proven that consuming alcohol is not great for humans. A recent survey even went full fire and brimstone noting that the safest amount of alcohol consumption is “none.” But that doesn’t stop millions and millions of people from tipping back their favorite adult beverage after work, at the bar, or at the beach many days out of the year. Consumed responsibly, you can have a blast boozing. That said, some countries seem to be having more fun than others when it comes to their alcohol consumption. Maybe it’s the culture, the climate, or a mixture of a medley of reasons, but there seems to be a core group of ten countries who consume more alcohol than the rest per capita – and the U.S. doesn’t sniff the list.
The folks over at VinePair pulled together a handy color-coded map that details the recent data collected from the Global Information System on Alcohol and Health that tracked recorded (like beer on draft) and unrecorded (moonshine) alcohol consumption (in liters) over the past 15 years, which is a BUNCH of data to compile when you think about how many countries there are in the world. Now, I’m a sucker for things like this for many reasons. Maps like this are easier to process for my dumb brain and they also get people heated and maybe a tad confused as comments section detectives try to read between the lines and create sweeping generalizations as to why their country was or was not included in the list. Without further delay, here are the top 10:
Moldova (17.4 liters per capita over 15+ years)
Belarus (17.1)
Lithuania (16.2)
Russia (14.5)
Czech Republic (14.1)
Romania (12.9)
Serbia (12.9)
Australia (12.6)
Portugal (12.5)
Slovakia (12.5)
First off, if we’re talking liters of alcohol consumed, I pray that most of it came from beer instead of liquor, because the leaders on this list surely don’t mess around when it comes to their drinking habits. The majority in the top 10 also reside in Eastern Europe, which is a notoriously cold place to be for most of the year. From my experience of Wisconsin winters during college, it’s not surprising that many folks in these countries would prefer to pass their winters staying warm and somewhat entertained with a few, or several, stiff drinks next to them. More lenient alcohol consumption laws could also play a part.
As to why the U.S. wasn’t higher up on this? I’m not entirely sure, as people seem to find reasons to drink for basically any occasion these days. Add in the huge influx of craft beer and even the current trend of spiked seltzers, and I have a feeling that the younger generation of Americans might change this list the next time it comes out. What do you think? I feel like I might need to mull this one over with a pint of beer. Cheers!.
[via VinePair]
Respond
@TaylorLaabs
@taylor1laabs
“As to why the U.S. wasn’t higher up on this? I’m not entirely sure, as people seem to find reasons to drink for basically any occasion these days.”
You touched on the answer to this in your second paragraph. This list looks like it’s purely alcohol consumed. For a given volume, beer has way less alcohol in it than spirits (5-10% vs. 40%), which are the drink of choice in many Eastern European countries and consumed more frequently. It’s not unusual to take a couple of shots a vodka during a casual dinner.
Also alcoholism is insanely rampant there. There was actually some controversy in Russia recently because the country raised its retirement age to basically the median life expectancy for men (65 for retirement, 66 for life expectancy). The life expectancy is so low because men frequently drink themselves to death and given how many Eastern European countries are on that list, I can’t imagine it’s much different there.
You also have to realize its per capita. Russia is the only country on the list in the top 10 in population in the world, it’s nuts that they’re on the list. Still, they have roughly half the population of the US. Every other country on the list is below 25 million people. US has 322 million people, and a lot of those people bring down the average.
Very true, although I would think that they controlled their sample size to account for this and didn’t arrive at their per capita numbers by literally taking the total volume of alcohol consumed and dividing by the population.
The real question is, who drinks the most aged 18-27?
I have never felt older than i did after reading this comment. I’m 29.
I’m turning 28 in a few months, so apparently I’m on the way out. Kinda felt the way you did.
I think it has to do with the fact that while younger folks are drinking more frequently, they are typically drinking less per sitting. Apparently they’d rather have one flavorful cocktail or beer than 10 vodka sodas or shots of whiskey and a beerback.
Millennials are killing the blackout SMH
Whelp, looks like I’m going to have to take one for the team on this one.