How much do you drink over the course of a week? Where you live, and the alcohol culture of that country, will influence your response. If you are an Eastern European you may prefer vodka. If you live in southern Europe you are most fond of wine, while those further north are more likely to drink beer. But how much alcohol is actually in a glass of vodka, wine or beer? This varies from country to country and – until now – has also made it impossible to compare alcohol consumption in different European countries. But researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, together with colleagues from more than 40 European countries, have managed to crack the code of this puzzle. And now the results of the survey are available.
The results of the survey show that alcohol consumption varies widely across European countries. Men consume almost twice as many units of alcohol as women, and women in Israel and Central and Eastern Europe drink the least. The Irish generally drink the most. Binge drinking is most widespread in Portugal, with Great Britain in second place. In the Nordic countries, Danes top the list for the highest alcohol consumption overall, and weekend binge drinking is most common among Norwegian men. The study also confirms what scientists have known about social status and the use of alcohol:people who are well off drink the most.
