Consumption of beer, wine, and distilled spirits in select countries, 2003

(in litres per capita of drinking-age population)
country beer wine spirits total**
LPA**
Luxembourg 101.6* 66.1* 1.6* 12.6*
Hungary 72.2* 37.4* 3.5* 11.4*
Czech Republic 157.0* *16.8* 3.8* 11.0*
Ireland 141.2* 15.2* 2.0* 10.8*
Germany 117.5* 23.6* 2.0* 10.2*
Spain 78.3* 30.6* 2.4* 10.0*
Portugal 58.7* 42.0* 1.4* 9.6*
United Kingdom 101.5* 20.1* 1.8* 9.6*
Denmark 96.2* 32.6* 1.1* 9.5*
Austria 110.6* 29.8* 1.4* 9.3*
France 35.5* 48.5* 2.4* 9.3*
Cyprus 60.0* 17.8* 3.9* 9.0*
Switzerland 58.1* 40.9* 1.6* 9.0*
Belgium 96.2* 23.0* 1.4* 8.8*
Russia 32.8* 8.6* 6.2* 8.7*
Slovakia 88.4* 13.0* 3.5* 8.5*
Latvia 36.6* 3.6* 6.1* 8.1*
Romania 67.0* 23.0* 2.0* 8.1*
Finland 80.2* 26.3* 2.1* 7.9*
Netherlands 78.7* 19.6* 1.5* 7.9*
Greece 40.4* 33.8* 1.6* 7.7*
Australia 91.5* 20.4* 1.2* 7.2*
Canada 67.8* 11.0* 2.2* 7.0*
Italy 30.1* 47.5* 0.4* 6.9*
New Zealand 72.8* 19.1* 1.6* 6.8*
United States 81.6* 9.5* 1.9* 6.8*
Poland 79.0* 11.9* 1.3* 6.7*
Estonia 75.0* 3.4* 1.3* 6.5*
Japan 27.3* 2.9* 3.6* 6.5*
Argentina 35.7* 34.6* 0.3* 6.2*
Uruguay 16.7* 33.3* 1.1* 5.9*
Iceland 55.8* 12.0* 1.2* 5.4*
Chile 25.0* 18.0* 1.8* 5.2*
Bulgaria 7.9* 21.3* 2.1* 5.0*
Malta 39.7* 22.3* 0.7* 4.9*
Sweden 54.2* 16.6* 0.9* 4.9*
South Africa 56.0* 8.6* 0.8* 4.6*
Venezuela 82.1* 0.5* 4.6*
Norway 50.5* 12.4* 0.8* 4.4*
Thailand 24.3* 3.1* 4.3*
Brazil 49.7* 1.9* 1.5* 4.2*
China 19.4* 0.2* 3.0* 4.0*
Colombia 40.1* 0.4* 1.8* 3.9*
Taiwan 27.5* 0.5* 0.7* 3.3*
Mexico 46.9* 0.2* 0.7* 3.1*
* Consumption data estimated from production data.
** Total litres of pure alcohol per drinking-age person. The alcohol content of beverages varies among countries.
Source: World Advertising Research Center, World Drink Trends 2005.

-countries leading in total alcohol consumption per drinking-age person in 2003 were Luxembourg, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Ireland, and Germany.

-differences in drinking levels for types of alcohol

-leading beer-drinking countries were the Czech Republic, Ireland, Germany, Austria, and Luxembourg.

-Russia (as expected...all that vodka helped them win the title!)
Latvia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, and Japan were among the leading consumers of distilled spirits.

-Ireland and Russia had the highest rates of heavy alcohol consumption among women, while Russia, Hungary, and Austria had very high rates among men.

-Portugal and Spain had high rates of per capita consumption, but, since they also had high rates of abstinence, the per capita number of very heavy drinkers was higher than it was for countries such as France with few abstainers.

-AS FOR US AUSSIES....WELL WE ARNT AT THE TOP BUT WE CERTAINLY LIKE A FEW DRINKS....