In 2019, the top 10 European countries with the highest alcohol consumption per capita were Czechia (14.3 litres), Latvia (13.2), Moldova (12.9), Germany (12.8), Lithuania (12.8), Ireland (12.7), Spain (12.7), Bulgaria (12.5), Luxembourg (12.4), and Romania (12.3).
Russia and Australia have the highest prevalence of alcoholism dependence overall, with 2.61 per cent and 2.58 per cent, respectively. According to the World Health Organization, US has the lowest rate of alcohol dependence with only 1.93 per cent.
Approximately 84 per cent of Australians drink alcohol at least once in a 12-month period, compared to 83.9 per cent in the UK and 68.9 per cent in the US. However, the UK leads the way with alcohol abuse problems.
Australians aged 18-24 years generally consume more standard drinks on a day they drink than any other age group. Those aged 70+ years are most likely to have 2 or less standard drinks per occasion.
1. Green Bay, Wis. The heaviest drinking metro area in the heaviest drinking state, Green Bay, Wis., has the highest excessive drinking rate of any U.S. metro area.
According to the World Health Organisation, Austria, Ireland and the Czech Republic are the world's biggest binge-drinkers. That term is defined as consuming more than six units or three pints of lager on one occasion over the past 30 days.
Gnowangerup has been crowned the booziest town in Australia, with one-third of its adult residents necking two or more alcoholic drinks every day.
Australian annual alcohol consumption was fifth highest among the selected countries at 9.5 litres capita.
Each month 20.4% of Australians consume alcohol at high risk levels. Australians living in remote areas are more likely to drink at high risk levels compared to those living in urban areas. The driving forces behind Australia's drinking culture are derived from social customs, habits, publicised images and normality.
Australians have been named the heaviest drinkers in the world in a survey after spending more time drunk in 2020 than any other nation. The international survey found Australians drank to the point of drunkenness an average of 27 times a year, almost double the global average of 15.
Currently, an estimated 13.2 million Australians – 66.4% of the adult population – drink alcohol in one form or another in an average four weeks (33.6% don't).
Queenslanders appear to be the nation's biggest beer drinkers, with South Australians drinking the least.
There is perhaps no religion that loves alcohol as much as the Japanese Shinto religion, which reveres sake as the most sacred of drinks—the “liquor of the gods.” The god of sake is also the god of rice and the harvest, so drinking sake is associated with a bountiful and blessed harvest.
Looking at the amount of alcohol consumed per person aged 15 years or older, the Seychelles is in first place with around 20.5 litres of alcohol drunk per person per year, according to Our World in Data; studies show that young male peer groups primarily drink high amounts of alcohol in the Seychelles.
American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) tend to abuse substances more than other racial demographics, and also suffer from more mental health concerns than the general American population.
Who drinks alcohol in Australia? Around 77% of adults drink alcohol. 23% do not drink alcohol. The proportion of the population aged 14 and over who consumed alcohol daily declined significantly between 2016 (6.0%) and 2019 (5.4%) (AIHW 2020, Table 3.1).
One in four people (25.8% or 5 million people) aged 18 years and over exceeded the guideline in 2020-21. This includes those who either consumed more than 10 drinks in the last week and/or consumed 5 or more drinks on any day at least monthly in the last 12 months (12 occasions per year).
The figures released by the World Health Organisation show Australians drink more pure alcohol per year than Americans, Canadians and the Japanese. “Australians drink 10.6 litres of pure alcohol each year, much higher than the global average of 6.4 litres,” according to the authors of the report.
Tasmania. Tasmania was named the 'bogan capital of Australia' with Taswegians earning four spots in the final. On the island of Tasmania, half the population has literacy and/or numeracy difficulties, and the unemployment rate is higher than it is in mainland Australia.
While there is no state-level prohibition, over 100 places in the Northern Territory are "dry areas" with complete alcohol bans.
Melbourne
Undoubtedly the coolest place to party in all of Australia, Melbourne is where you go if you want a little culture with your Carlton Draught. Visit Fitzroy and you'll be surrounded by some of the finest street art, dive bars and live music known to man.
At the extreme, Utah comes in first for the number of different types of places that define drug-free zones.
A 2020 study from the University of Michigan shows that over the last two decades, the number of college students who abstained from drinking went up by 8%. And according to a 2022 U.K. study from Drinkaware on alcohol consumption trends, Gen Z is the most sober and sober-curious generation yet.
Pakistan, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Mauritania, Libya, the Maldives, Iran, Kuwait, Brunei, and Bangladesh also have alcohol bans, as do some states in India (India is a Hindu-majority country but has a sizeable Muslim population).