Feb 14th 2011, 13:01 by The Economist online
A map of world alcohol consumption
THE world drank the equivalent of 6.1 litres of pure alcohol per person in 2005, according to a report from the World Health Organisation published on February 11th. The biggest boozers are mostly found in Europe and in the former Soviet states. Moldovans are the most bibulous, getting through 18.2 litres each, nearly 2 litres more than the Czechs in second place. Over 10 litres of a Moldovan's annual intake is reckoned to be 'unrecorded' home-brewed liquor, making it particularly harmful to health. Such moonshine accounts for almost 30% of the world's drinking. The WHO estimates that alcohol results in 2.5m deaths a year, more than AIDS or tuberculosis. In Russia and its former satellite states one in five male deaths is caused by drink.
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I think hat people should fix this alcohol problem around the world right now.
Even though i remain sceptical of the statistical data provided above i beleive that the increased consumption in those areas could be due to the extremely cold weather conditions and rather lonley social setting.
Mongolians are known to be heavy drinkers. Why are they rated so low? Something is not correct.
Mabey they pay lots of money to the rating system so people wont think there that bad
Always mentioning how many lives are lost because of alcohol. What about all those that are born because of it ? :-)
In terms of Asia, looks like the party is in SOUTH KOREA! Woot
Ireland, England and Russia right at the top. Gotta love it...
I´m from Argentina but presently living in Sweden. I totally disagree with this report when comparing the statistics for this two countries. Everyone knows the big issue that is alcohol consumption in scandinavian countries, specially Sweden (you can easily see it on the subway during weekends, ranging from teenagers to elder) and this is not a consequence of drinking beer but of drinking spirits drinks. Hard to believe the veracity of this report!! or maybe Sweden was very different in 2005 ;)
The study should have been carried out distinguishing between "soft" and hard liquor. Soft liquor, like wine, explains Argentina and Australia as well as many countries in Western and Central Europe.
Western Balkans drinking less than central Europe.... curious finding?... Is it because the alcohol production is home based (ei. not taxed or registered), or because people buy in duty frees of Austria and Hungary (which would push the consumption there) or perhaps because people stop counting after first three glasses (local expression) or because Bosnians made everybody believe it is their neighbours who drink more than them?... or perhaps Greeks made the report for all of us (thanks, if so..)... so that at least we look sober while our state economies are going to hell...
PS: I personally think that Serbians Croatians and Bosnians should definitely be the same colour there… any thoughts?
In fact the map lacks some interesting details like differences between european countries: anyway there's quite some difference between 12.5 and 18.2.
Korean we better cheer up...We must be a number one...
Those commenting on how the statistics aren't accurate for Moldova probably have limited experience there. I lived with a Moldovan winemaker in a small village for two years during development work, and these statistics do not surprise me at all.
Moldovan's do indeed make wine, but the homemade version is more alcoholic than western wine, and Moldovan's drink far more of it (indeed, wine is traditionally drunk in shot form in Moldova, as opposed to a western wine glass). Children drink to drunkenness regularly in the most remote villages, starting as early as the age of 14
But more importantly there is another homemade brew that is comparable to moonshine - Racu. It's a traditional drink made from wine or other fruits, and every family has their own recipe.
That said, Moldova does have an extremely interesting wine culture, and professional wine cellars with products that rival any in the world. However, in the villages, alcoholism and alcohol related health problems and deaths are pervasive.
maybe if the people in the middel east drank more they wouldn't be so frustrated about their religion?
Yes It is well said. Alcohol increasing victims rising from all over the world and All Govts should take common action against controlling it but Alcohol also can be used for good purposes. Like you can see cures of many types by Alcohol. Visit Here with Proof
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Drinking alcohol only makes you "feel" warmer while actually dropping your body temperature. It does makes sense though people in colder climates are stuck inside more or they go to the pub where it's warm inside.
In the US the drinking age is 21, which adds a big dilution factor. That's not to say that nobody drinks until 21, but the number of people drinking at age 15 is pretty low...
European countries may be leaders in alcohol consumption, but as always the US are a step ahead: they are world champions in drug consumption.
In Russia there are differences between consumption of alcohol between Russia's regions. In muslim regions (at South) consumption is lower.
A chart comparing the Russian regions against each other (consumption of beer, vodka, cognac, champagne, vine,)=> http://russiansphinx.blogspot.com/2011/01/sale-of-alcoholic-beverages-by...
Wait, does anyone else notice the bright red spot for South Korea? It is the only non-European country to achieve(?) greater than 12 liter/person consumption.
This is upsetting for several reasons which are not worth enumerating fully as there simply isn't enough space. Do you want to know how much the Brits or the Russians really drink? Simple aggregate statistics are not sufficient to help determine who the world's biggest or most keen drinkers are. how much do the British really drink? And more important, are Russians really in Fourth Place? I read this article today and I would like to quote from it as i couldn't have put it in better words:
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/article/a-lesson-in-drinking/43210...
' Do you know how much alcohol you drink in a given week? Helpfully, the WHO data allows us to translate gross consumption figures. If we think in terms of the standard half-liter bottle of 80-proof (40 percent alcohol) vodka, conventional 750 ml bottles of wine at 12 percent alcoholic content, and the international standard-size 0.35 liter bottles of 5 percent alcohol beer, the WHO data paints the following picture:
Every week, the average drinking Russian man downs 13 bottles of beer and more than two bottles of vodka. That’s the average. Week in, week out, two bottles of vodka and 13 bottles of beer for every drinking man across Russia. Or think of it this way: almost a third of a bottle of vodka and two beers every single day.
...
What about the supposed world-champion Moldovans? Given its long history of viniculture, the Moldovan drinking culture is more akin to the steady wine-drinking nations of the Mediterranean: Moldovans drink more wine than vodka, there is a smaller percentage of teetotalers, and women make up more of the overall consumption statistics. As a consequence, the average Moldovan man drinks only 32 liters of alcohol per year — quite a bit less than his counterparts in Russia and Ukraine.
...
The difference between drinking patterns between Moldova and its vodka-swilling Slavic neighbors is telling. While the average male life expectancy in Russia is 59.5 years and 62.3 years in Ukraine, in Moldova it is 67.4. Demographers and health experts are in wide agreement that not only is the quantity of alcohol consumed an important influence on health, but so too is the type of alcohol and the manner in which it is consumed. Instead of steady, measured consumption, Russians binge to excess.
...Rather than scoffing at the Moldovans for ranking first in the WHO report, Russians could actually learn something from them. Indeed, in terms of the impact of drinking patterns on population health, it would seem that one of the best things the average Russian man could do would be to put down one of his two weekly bottles of vodka and pick up a bottle of wine instead. Or better yet, put down one of the bottles and don’t pick up anything else at all as we celebrate International Women’s Day.
Thats a good map and shows some interesting trends. Essentially Europe and Russia seem to have the larges alcohol consumption with N. America being lower surprisingly.
I have just added a dataset to www.sharegeo.ac.uk on the discharges rates from Scottish hospitals for alcohol related admissions. You can download the data here and i have included a handy map if you dont want to create one yourself. http://hdl.handle.net/10672/162