Six Things We Can Learn About How Drunk The World Gets

Clue: we're not actually the worst country in the world when it comes to getting hammered…

getty126005629

by Sophie Wilkinson |
Published on

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has released statistics about which countries in the world are the booziest, helpfully grading them on a map. Here are six things we can learn from the stats:

1. Russians are worse than us

Though we've got a bit of a Booze Britain reputation, an apparent fondness for turning city centres into alcopop-spew and brawls, we're not actually the worst in the world. That accolade is reserved for Russia, whose population really does ward off those cold winter nights with a bottle of vodka. It's a cause for concern, according to The Independent, with the alcohol-fuelled culture of the country accounting for a large amount of early deaths. And of course, like some of their military, Russia's drinking habits extend to Ukraine and Belarus.

2. Oh, and Portugal

The country which, if the name didn't make it clear enough, actually invented port. Both of them scored over 12.50, which means that the average person over 15 drinks more than 12.50 litres of alcohol each year.

3. Italians don't actually get that pissed

The stereotype goes that Italians, with all their access to beautiful wines, are similar to their Roman forebears and like to sling it back on the regular. But actually, out of all the European countries, Italians drink the least. Not by far, but clocking in an average of 5.0-7.4 litres per capita, they outdo the rest of Europe in their approach to sobrietry. Even with all that communion wine on offer!

4. Muslims really don't booze

No shit Sherlock, but across Muslim countries, there is a distinct lack of boozing, with most countries' per capita consumption of alcohol hitting below the 2.5 litre mark.

5. Mexico is off the sauce

Forget everything that Geordie Shore taught you about Cancun. Mexico's booze consumption is on a level with Italians – despite all that tequila knocking about. Maybe they've got other substances to keep themselves busy.

6. Seriously, we really aren't the worst

We score an average of 10-12.4 litres of booze per capita, and we're in cahoots with Canada, Australia, Mongolia (yes), South Africa and most of western Europe. Take that Daily Mail with all your Booze Britain headlines.

Screen-Shot-2014-05-13-at-09.13
 

Follow Sophie on Twitter @sophwilkinson

Pictures: Getty, WHO

This article originally appeared on The Debrief.

Just so you know, we may receive a commission or other compensation from the links on this website - read why you should trust us