Omnivore - Around the world in alcohol

Alcohol consumption rankings from The World Health Organization’s report.

Image

===The World Health Organization (WHO) did a study on alcohol consumption around the world===, and the results are not surprising. Here it goes:

Gold: Eastern Europe, by far. On average, these folks drink 14.5 liters of pure alcohol per year. Don’t challenge a Pole to a drinking contest if you value your life - but you probably already knew that.

Silver: The rest of Europe. For most Western and Southern countries and the Nordic countries, the average yearly consumption per person is about 10-12 liters. Which is still A LOT.

Bronze: Southern Africa, North America, and most of South America. WHO reported that these areas fall into the “medium” alcohol consumption category, throwing back 7-10 liters annually.

Honorable mention: China and the West of South America don’t hold a candle to ANY country in Europe, but their yearly average is still not too shabby at 5-8 liters per person.

Out of the running: North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, the Eastern Mediterranean region, and Southern Asia drink less than 2.5 liters a year - which, of course, also means the lowest number of alcohol-related deaths. This is not the worst competition to lose.

The report also included some interesting information about the type of alcohol that these regions consume. Here they are, ranked by popularity:

Beer: North America, Australia, Western Europe, and most of South America
Spirits: Asia and Central Europe
Wine: Argentina, France, and Italy (the usual suspects)
Other: About half of Africa (the report did not elaborate; your guess is as good as mine)

So there you have it. According to this report, North Americans are relatively sensible both in what and how much we drink (compared to some people, we’re straight up teetotalers). Let’s go get a beer and celebrate!