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WHO Global Status Report on Alcohol 2004

Global overviews

Alcohol consumption and beverage preferences

Figure 2 shows the unweighted means of adult per capita consumption across all countries for
total consumption, and beer, wine and spirits separately. Unweighted here means that the
corresponding population size of countries was not used, and hence each country received the
same weight. The graph shows an increase in total consumption until the beginning of the
1980s, and then a slight decrease to a fairly stable level of about five liters of pure alcohol per
adult capita. From the total alcohol consumption, close to equal parts are made up of beer,
wine and spirits respectively. For all years the mean adult per capita is 5.1 litres of pure
alcohol, of which beer accounts for 1.9 litres, wine 1.3 litres and spirits 1.7 litres. On a global
level increases and decreases may cancel each other out and therefore there seems to be a
rather stable level of consumption, and also stable for the different beverages.

Figure 2:

Unweighted means of global per capita consumption 1961 to 2001

When the analysis of trends in consumption is done for the WHO Regions, a different picture
emerges. Figure 3 shows the trend as population weighted means of adult per capita
consumption in the different WHO Regions over a period of almost 40 years. The European
Region (EUR), the African Region (AFR) and the Region of the Americas (AMR) all reached
their highest consumption about the same time, in the early 1980s, although the level of the
consumption is obviously much higher in the European Region (EUR) than in the other
regions. The Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) displays a steady low consumption. The
two regions showing recent and continuing increases in consumption are the South-East Asian
Region (SEAR) and the Western Pacific Region (WPR).

WHO Global Status Report on Alcohol 2004

Figure 3: Population weighted means of the recorded adult per capita consumption in the

WHO Regions 1961-1999

Year

litres of pure alcohol

SEARO

WPRO

EURO

EMRO

AMRO

AFRO

The regional data indicates that for the WHO Regions other than EMR (mostly countries with
majority Muslim populations) there is a certain trend towards harmonization of the
consumption levels. On a regional level, those with the highest consumption are decreasing,
while those with the lowest are increasing their consumption. This also falls within the
explanatory model that many developing countries are increasing their alcohol consumption
with an increasing level of economic development. On a more general level the link between
economic prosperity and rising alcohol consumption can also be seen e.g. for the Nordic
countries and Ireland. Of course the regional level also hides large differences within
countries, as again increases and decreases may cancel each other out.

Data at the country level as regards adult per capita consumption can be found in each country
profile. For an overview of all the countries with the most recent data, Table 3 shows the
recorded adult per capita consumption for all available countries for the year 2000 or 2001,
arranged from the lowest recorded consumption to the highest.

WHO Global Status Report on Alcohol 2004

Table 3:

Total recorded alcohol per capita consumption (15+), in litres of pure alcohol

Country Total

Iran

0.00

Brunei Darussalam

0.49

Kiribati

1.66

Jamaica

3.37

Kuwait

0.00

Bhutan

0.57

Mozambique

1.67

Bolivia

3.43

Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (the)

0.00

Syrian Arab Republic (the)

0.62

Fiji

1.69

El Salvador

3.45

Saudi Arabia

0.00

Micronesia (Federated States of)

0.64

Côte d'Ivoire

1.71

Seychelles

3.61

Somalia

0.00

Tunisia

0.65

Maldives

1.72

Cuba

3.65

Bangladesh

0.00

Turkmenistan

0.77

Kenya

1.74

Cameroon

3.66

Mauritania

0.01

India

0.82

Lesotho

1.83

Cape Verde

3.72

Pakistan

0.02

Solomon Islands

0.86

Mongolia

1.96

Philippines (the)

3.75

Algeria

0.03

Equatorial Guinea

0.90

Israel

1.99

Ukraine

4.04

Nepal

0.08

Ethiopia

0.91

Ecuador

1.99

The form. Yugoslav Rep. of Mac.

4.12

Comoros

0.08

Togo

0.95

Dem. Republic of the Congo

2.01

Lebanon

4.13

Yemen

0.08

Papua New Guinea

1.01

Gambia (the)

2.27

Antigua and Barbuda

4.24

Indonesia

0.10

Malaysia

1.06

Honduras

2.28

Burkina Faso

4.38

Egypt

0.10

Djibouti

1.08

Congo

2.36

China

4.45

Niger (the)

0.11

Vanuatu

1.11

Namibia

2.39

Belize

4.50

Jordan

0.11

Benin

1.22

Georgia

2.41

Guam

4.50

Guinea

0.14

Armenia

1.23

Albania

2.51

Mexico

4.62

Sri Lanka

0.18

Oman

1.32

Nicaragua

2.53

Peru

4.68

Iraq

0.20

Viet Nam

1.35

Bahrain

2.63

Zimbabwe

5.08

Chad

0.23

Madagascar

1.38

Singapore

2.73

United Republic of Tanzania

5.29

Sudan (the)

0.27

Samoa

1.42

United Arab Emirates (the)

2.75

Brazil

5.32

Cambodia

0.36

Malawi

1.44

Guinea-Bissau

2.76

Botswana

5.38

Myanmar

0.36

Turkey

1.48

Kazakhstan

2.89

Costa Rica

5.45

Morocco

0.41

Uzbekistan

1.52

Angola

2.91

Kyrgyzstan

5.50

Tajikistan

0.41

Eritrea

1.54

Zambia

3.02

Dem. People's Republic of Korea

5.68

Qatar

0.44

Ghana

1.54

Liberia

3.12

Iceland

5.74

Senegal

0.48

Guatemala

1.64

Mauritius

3.16

Norway

5.81

Mali

0.49

Central African Republic (the)

1.66

Trinidad and Tobago

3.22

Suriname

5.82

WHO Global Status Report on Alcohol 2004

Country Total

Guyana

5.84

Gabon

7.97

Hungary

11.92

Colombia

5.92

Belarus

8.12

Denmark

11.93

Chile

6.02

Canada

8.26

Spain

12.25

Panama

6.04

Thailand

8.47

Lithuania

12.32

Sao Tome and Principe

6.07

United States of America (the)

8.51

Slovakia

12.41

Dominican Republic (the)

6.11

Argentina

8.55

Portugal

12.49

Haiti

6.51

Bosnia and Herzegovina

8.62

Austria

12.58

Slovenia

6.55

Poland

8.68

Croatia

12.66

Saint Vincent and Grenadines

6.58

Venezuela

8.78

Germany

12.89

Sierra Leone

6.64

Italy

9.14

Bermuda

12.92

Paraguay

6.66

Australia

9.19

Reunion

13.39

Cyprus

6.67

Dominica

9.19

France

13.54

Barbados

6.70

Bahamas (the)

9.21

Republic of Moldova (the)

13.88

Lao People's Democratic Republic (the)

6.72

Greece

9.30

Ireland

14.45

Malta

6.74

Latvia

9.31

Czech Republic (the)

16.21

Rwanda

6.80

Burundi

9.33

Luxembourg

17.54

Sweden

6.86

Swaziland

9.51

Uganda

19.47

Azerbaijan

6.94

Netherlands (the)

9.74

Uruguay

6.96

New Zealand

9.79

Bulgaria

7.13

Estonia

9.85

Japan

7.38

Netherlands Antilles

9.94

Grenada

7.39

Nigeria

10.04

Saint Kitts and Nevis

7.62

Belgium

10.06

Romania

7.63

United Kingdom (the)

10.39

French Polynesia

7.68

Finland

10.43

Republic of Korea (the)

7.71

Saint Lucia

10.45

South Africa

7.81

Russian Federation (the)

10.58

New Caledonia

7.83

Switzerland

11.53

Sources

: FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), World Drink Trends 2003

Note:

Several African countries (Burundi, Nigeria, Swaziland and Uganda) appear in the list in the top 30 positions of adult per capita consumption. This is because the

calculations were based on FAO data which included fermented beverages and estimates of beer produced locally from sorghum, millet and other agricultural products.

WHO Global Status Report on Alcohol 2004

Beverage preferences

Looking a bit further into beverage preferences shows that countries often can be categorized
as mainly beer, wine or spirits countries. Table 4 gives an example of beverage preferences
among the different countries. It shows the top 20 countries with the highest consumption for
each beverage category, using simply the recorded adult per capita (APC) in litres of pure
alcohol for that specific beverage type. Among the mainly beer drinking countries are mostly
European countries, and a few African. The largest wine drinkers are the wine producing
countries of Europe. Most of the large spirits consuming countries are found in Eastern
Europe, Asia and some island states.

Table 4:

Top 20 countries with highest beverage-specific adult per capita consumption

Beer Wine*

Spirits

Country APC

Country

APC

Country

APC

Czech Republic (the)

9.43

Luxembourg

9.43

Republic of Moldova (the)

10.94

Ireland 9.24

France

8.38

Reunion

8.67

Swaziland

7.49

Portugal

7.16

Russian Federation (the)

7.64

Germany 7.26

Italy

6.99

Saint

Lucia

7.27

Austria 6.42

Croatia

6.42

Dominica

7.20

Luxembourg 6.16

Switzerland

6.23

Thailand

7.13

Uganda 6.14

Argentina 5.63

Bahamas

(the)

7.05

Denmark 6.02

Spain 5.07

Latvia

6.62

The United Kingdom

5.97

Bermuda

4.95

Haiti

6.46

Belgium 5.90

Greece

4.78

Belarus

6.34

Venezuela

5.69

Denmark

4.57

Lao People's Democratic Republic

6.09

Lithuania 5.53

Austria

4.47

Bosnia and Herzegovina

6.03

Slovakia 5.34

Hungary

4.47

Saint Vincent and Grenadines

5.98

Australia

5.20

Uruguay

4.35

Dem. People's Republic of Korea

5.48

Croatia 5.16

Germany

3.38

Slovakia

5.44

Netherlands Antilles

4.96

Romania

3.37

Grenada

5.06

Netherlands (the)

4.91

Chile

3.25

Lithuania

4.92

Finland 4.89

French

Polynesia

3.10

Azerbaijan 4.66

United Republic of Tanzania

4.85

Bulgaria

3.05

Kyrgyzstan

4.61

Gabon

4.77

Republic of Korea (the)

2.99

Czech Republic (the)

4.41

*Throughout the report, fermented beverages are included in the wine category. However, for this table only
average wine has been used to present the countries with the highest adult per capita wine consumption. If the
fermented beverages were included, countries such as Uganda, Nigeria, Burundi, Sierra Leone, Rwanda and
Sao Tome and Principe would appear to be among the top 'wine' drinking countries.

Changes in beverage preferences can be illustrated with the case of Europe where
consumption of beer is increasing, consumption of wine is decreasing and consumption of
spirits is rather stable as in Europe non-wine producing countries are opening up to wine,
while wine-producing countries are opening up to other alcoholic beverages.

An example of a typology of wine consumption in Europe:

1. Wine producers with a high level of production, a high level of consumption, and
decreasing consumption continually (France, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain).

WHO Global Status Report on Alcohol 2004

2. Wine producers with a medium level of production, a moderate level of consumption,
and stable or slightly increasing consumption (Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, and
Switzerland).

3. Nonproducers, which have experienced a strong increase in wine consumption (Nordic
countries, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Belgium).

It should be noted that there are many different beverages outside the usual beer, wine and
spirits categories, which are included in the per capita consumption figures. Alcohol can be
produced from a wide range of agricultural products, such as grapes, barley, wheat, grains,
fruit, and potatoes. On a country-wide basis dramatic increases or decreases in alcohol
consumption are rare, with the exception of consumption associated with large natural
disasters or conflicts. Where such changes appear in the data, they are more likely to reflect a
change in the methods or that there has been a shift from legal alcohol production to illegal
and unrecorded (or vice-versa). The report focuses on the three main beverage categories,
although wherever possible data has been included on the more localized beverages, which
were mostly included in the category of ‘wine and fermented beverages’. Another example is
the category of alcopops, which in most places are diluted spirits beverages and thus are
usually included in the spirits category in the statistics.