The 20 European countries that drink the most – the UK isn’t even in the top ten

As summer comes to a close and the cold wintery months come upon us, the days of standing outside with a glass of Aperol are quickly coming to an end.

However, when it comes to drinking, it appears that lifestyle habits in Europe have largely changed our relationship with alcohol and health experts say it’s for the better.

The World Health Organisation, which has said that “no level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health”, has reported that consumption in Europe has been on the decline for some time. 

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) defines alcohol consumption as “the annual sales of pure alcohol in litres per person aged 15 years and older”.

Collecting data across a recorded period, they have compiled a data set which measures the annual alcohol consumption level in each country across Europe, where users can see the change in drinking habits over multiple decades. 

In the EU, the overall alcohol consumption per person aged 15 years and over has dropped by 2.9 litres in the last four decades, falling from 12.7 litres in 1980 to 9.8 litres in 2020, reflecting a 23 percent decrease.

Surprisingly, the European country that was revealed to have the highest annual consumption rate in 2019 was Czechia, where citizens drink on average 11.9 litres of alcohol per year. 

The countries that followed closely behind included Latvia and Austria at 11.6 litres of alcohol, experiencing a significant increase in their overall consumption over the recorded time frame.

Of the ‘Big Four’, France had the highest rate of alcohol consumption at 11.4 litres, followed closely by Germany at 10.6 litres, the UK at 9.7 litres and Italy at 7.7 litres. 

Notably, Ireland and Lithuania both recorded the highest decline in alcohol consumption from 1980 to 2020, dropping by 2.1 litres in both countries.

These two countries are closely followed by Spain and Greece, both declining by 2 litres in the same period. 

Overall the data set revealed that 25 European countries drink less, and 11 countries drink more. Despite that disparity though, the European region remains to have the highest level of alcohol consumption in the world. 

Alcohol Consumption of the Top 20 European Countries

(Litres/capita, aged 15 and over)

1. Czechia – 11.9 litres

2. Austria – 11.6 litres

3. Latvia – 11.6 litres

4. France – 11.4 litres

5. Lithuania – 11.1 litres

6. Slovenia – 11.1 litres

7. Luxembourg – 11 litres

8. Poland – 11 litres

9. Ireland – 10.8 litres

10. Spain – 10.7 litres

11. Hungary – 10.7 litres

12. Germany – 10.6 litres

13. Estonia – 10.4 litres

14. Portugal – 10.4 litres

15. Slovak Republic – 10.3 litres

16. United Kingdom – 9.7 litres

17. Denmark – 9.5 litres

18. Belgium – 9.2 litres

19. Switzerland – 8.7 litres

20. Netherlands – 8.2 litres

Source: OECD Health Statistics (2019 full data set)