European Drinking Statistics: Alcohol Consumption in Europe
While the vast majority of Europeans are turning to healthy lifestyles, as seen in a recent report by the World Health Organization showing that the quality of life in Europe has improved significantly, this doesn’t seem to extend to the consumption of alcohol. Europeans adore festivities and celebrations and continue to drink beer and wine as before.
Curious about which European country drinks the most? What drinks are the most preferred across Europe? And which country has the youngest drinking age? We’ll answer all of these questions in this article, revealing some amazing statistics you’re unlikely to have come across before. Ready to explore? If so, sit back and keep reading.
Countries With The Youngest Drinking Age
The average age to buy alcohol in Europe is set at 18, but this age varies from country to country. If you’ve been lucky to be born in Denmark or Belgium, you could expect to be served a drink at the age of 16 legally, while if you were born in Germany, you could have a drink at the age of 14 provided you had an adult friend with you to keep an eye on you.
You’d also not face any legal issues if you drank alcohol at the age of 15 years of old in the UK. However, it’s only if you did it on your own property accompanied by your family. To join your family in the pub on one of the Friday nights, Brits would need to be at least 18 years old.
Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland are other countries in the EU where the drinking age is quite young. Beer and wine can be bought here from the age of 16. As for hard spirits such as liqueurs, vodka, etc., you can buy them at the age of 18.
If you went to Malta, Greece, or Cyprus, you could drink beer, wine, and even spirits at the age of 17.
What about Italy, the famous land of wine? This country is the trickiest one, as there’s no one robust source, revealing the same numbers. Some say that the drinking age in Italy is 16, while others believe it’s 18. We don’t know who’s right or who’s wrong, the only thing we can say is that if you’re lucky to look that age, you’ll not have any problem ordering a glass of wine.
Countries With the Highest Drinking Age
When it comes to the countries topping the end of the rate, Lithuania and Iceland lead the way. In these countries, the minimum legal age for the sale of spirits is 20 years.
In Sweden, you also have to be 20 years old to buy alcohol. That being said, the laws of the country don’t prohibit people of the age of 18 to have a pint of beer or a glass of wine in a public place. And if at the age of 15-16 you were caught drinking at home, the only problem you could have is explaining to your parents why you helped yourself to their bar stock.
Interestingly, though the average drinking age in Europe is 18, two-thirds of Europeans have acknowledged trying alcoholic beverages at the age of 15. At the same time, the number of people who have been drunk more than once in their lives in Europe has significantly decreased, showing a shifting trend towards more responsible alcohol consumption.
The Heaviest Drinkers of Alcohol
Now that we’ve covered the drinking age statistics, it’s interesting to look at what numbers tell us about drinking levels in Europe. In which country do people drink the most? And how often do they do it?
According to the EUobserver, the heaviest drinkers reside in Lithuania, the Czech Republic, and Germany. While we are not surprised to see Germany in the top three, seeing they start drinking at the age of 14, Lithuania with one of the highest drinking ages certainly came as a surprise.
According to the World Health Organization, only in Lithuania every year people drink 15 liters of pure alcohol. This is followed by the Czech Republic with an equally alarming alcohol consumption of 14.4 liters per year and Germany with 13.4 liters of alcohol.
Clearly, setting a drinking age limit, while a good idea, does little to reduce alcohol consumption.
In terms of alcohol consumption, the UK is ranked 20th, drinking on average about 11.4 liters of alcohol. However, Brits are certainly one of the nations that love their drinks and enjoy the conviviality that accompanies them.
According to the Guardian, at least 88% of Britons have drunk alcoholic beverages in the past 12 months, with half of them drinking 2-3 times a week. This is where even Germans are put to shame, among whom only one-third consume alcohol as often.
Favorite Drinks of Europeans
There are many stereotypes when it comes to drinks. One of them is that the British favorite alcoholic drink is beer. This stereotype arose from the fact that there are many pubs and breweries in the UK that serve different types of ale and lager. However, wine is actually much more popular there, according to the findings of Landgeist.
The same goes for Spaniards. When people think of Spain, one of the largest European wine producers, most of them believe that wine is their favorite drink. As you’ve already guessed, it’s not. Instead, they give preference to beer and spirits.
Perhaps, the only country that certainly lives up to everyone’s expectations is Moldova. With the production of over 12-15 million decaliters of wine, it’s not only one of the largest wine producers in Europe but also one of the largest consumers, drinking 8.6 liters of wine (pure alcohol) yearly. This puts France, famous for its wines, in the third position in the ranking.
Can you guess where the biggest fans of beer live? If you said Germany, you’re not entirely mistaken, as they are second in terms of beer consumption. And at the forefront is the Czech Republic, where a staggering 129 liters of beer were drunk per capita in 2021. Think that’s a lot? Well, in 2008, this number was actually 30 liters more.
Biggest Drinking Days in Europe
You don’t need any statistics to know that the biggest days when people are the most tempted to have a pine of beer or a glass of wine are those during and on the eve of holidays. That said, even among those days, there are a few that have the highest percentage of the drunk.
Whether because at Christmas people tend to get together with their families and don’t want to lose face, or simply because of the magic associated with this day, it’s not Christmas when people drink the most.
It’s New Year’s Eve. Among all those surveyed, 27% of men and 16.7% of women had episodes of complete blackout of memories when they tried to remember how the celebrations went.
That said, the UK is a bit of a different case. The biggest drinking day in the United Kingdom is not Christmas Eve and not even New Year’s Eve. You might be surprised to know but it’s the Booze Black Friday. It’s on this day when the biggest amount of alcohol is sold all across the country and people spend a whopping 2.32 billion hard-earned pounds on alcohol.
Other Statistics
Before wrapping up, let’s mention some other alcohol-related statistics in Europe.
In 2019, Eurostat published an overview of alcohol drinking among the population of the EU, which showed interesting insights. One in twelve people, according to the results, consumed alcoholic beverages on a daily basis, and one in five of those who drank had a bad hangover at least once a month.
At the same time, the percentage of non-drinkers was quite high as well. According to the same report, in 2019, a quarter of Europeans abstained from drinking alcohol in any form.
Many people link alcohol with holidays and celebrations, but it’s no secret that it can have a detrimental impact on mental well-being. Moreover, it’s alarming to note that alcohol plays a significant role in causing deaths. Based on data from WHO, alcoholism is responsible for 290,000 deaths in Europe annually, highlighting the urgent need to tackle this problem head-on.
Final Words
Europe has always been famous for its exceptionally high standard of living, where the average life expectancy of people is 81-86 years at least. People there seem to enjoy everything – the weather, shopping, boat trips, shindigs, and quiet evenings in front of the fire. And as we can see from the statistics, they also enjoy alcohol.
Most of the countries in Europe have an average drinking age of 18, and most people admitted to trying their first sip of alcohol even earlier. If you lived in Germany, you could safely throw your first alcohol parties at the age of 16 no probs, and if you lived in Spain, you could clink glasses with your family over meals starting from 14.
Despite the widespread enjoyment of alcohol in Europe, it’s noteworthy that life expectancy hasn’t seen a significant decline, even with the occurrence of alcohol-related deaths on an annual basis.
This can be attributed to the fact that while Europeans may let loose on occasion, there’s a prevailing culture of consuming high-quality alcohol and maintaining a sense of moderation and awareness.