Map of countries by prevalence of alcohol consumption (2008)
The table below for 191 countries uses 2010 data from the WHO report published in 2014. The methodology used by the WHO calculated use by persons 15 years of age or older. All data in columns refer to year 2010. The column "recorded" refers to the average recorded consumption for the period 2010. Unrecorded consumption (homebrew, moonshine, smuggled alcohol, surrogate alcohol etc.) was calculated using empirical investigations and expert judgments. Total is the sum of the recorded and unrecorded consumption. The next four columns are a breakdown of the recorded alcohol consumption by type. Beer refers to malt beer, wine refers to grape wine, spirits refers to all distilled beverages such as vodka and similar products, and the column "other" refers to all other alcoholic beverages, such as rice wine, sake, mead, cider, kvass, and African beers (kumi kumi, kwete, banana beer, millet beer, umqombothi etc.). Worldwide consumption in 2010 was equal to 6.2 litres of pure alcohol consumed per person aged 15 years or older.
Pure alcohol consumption among persons (age 15+) in litres per capita per year, 2010[3]
The table below for 189 countries uses 2016 data from the WHO report published in 2018. The methodology used by the WHO calculated use by persons 15 years of age or older. All data in columns refer to year 2016. The column "recorded" refers to the average recorded consumption for the period 2010. Unrecorded consumption (homebrew, moonshine, smuggled alcohol, surrogate alcohol etc.) was calculated using expert judgements and surveys. Total is the sum of the recorded and unrecorded consumption. The next four columns are a breakdown of the recorded alcohol consumption by type. Beer refers to malt beer, wine refers to grape wine, spirits refers to all distilled beverages such as vodka and similar products, and the column "other" refers to all other alcoholic beverages, such as rice wine, sake, mead, cider, kvass, and African beers (kumi kumi, kwete, banana beer, millet beer, umqombothi etc.). Worldwide consumption in 2016 was equal to 6.4 litres of pure alcohol consumed per person aged 15 years or older.
Pure alcohol consumption among persons (age 15+) in litres per capita per year, 2016[4]
The following is a list of European and OECD countries by the 2016 total alcohol consumption per capita age 15+ in litres of pure alcohol as published by the World Health Organization global status report on alcohol and health 2018 [5]
2016 total alcohol consumption per capita (age 15+) for European and OECD nations
The table below lists OECD countries by the annual consumption of pure alcohol in litres, per person, aged 15 years old and over, as published in the 2013 OECD Health Data. Note that the methodology to convert alcoholic drinks to pure alcohol may differ across countries. Typically beer is weighted as 4–5%, wine as 11–16% and spirits as 40% of pure alcohol equivalent.
This table is an accurate reflection of the annual consumption of pure alcohol in litres by OECD countries.