Drinking Culture
U.K. daily The Independent reported on May 13 (local time) that in global per capita annual alcohol consumption, former Soviet union member Belarus topped the list while Korea ranked 15th out of 190 countries surveyed.
The figures represent the average amount of pure alcohol consumed per capita. List-topper Belarus consumed 17.5L while Korea gulped down 12.3L.
The rankings are based on a report by The World Health Organization (WHO) in an attempt to warn people of the dangers of alcoholism.
The top five inebriated countries are, after Belarus, Moldova (16.8L), Lithuania (15.4L), Russia (15.1L), and Romania (14.4L).
Completing the top 10 were the Ukraine, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia, proving that former Soviet and eastern European nations show a potent presence on the list.
In Asia, Korea ranked highest, followed by Japan at 73rd (7.2L) and China at 90th (6.7L).
In Western Europe, France stood at 19th (12.2L) trailed by Germany and England at 23rd and 25th, respectively.
In addition, Finland shared the 15th spot with Korea with per capita consumption of 12.3L, while the U.S. and Brazil ranked 48th (9.2L) and 54th (8.7L).
Alcohol-prohibiting Islamic countries stayed at the bottom of the list, and the most lightweight nations turned out to be Pakistan, Libya, and Kuwait, with a per capita annual alcohol consumption of less than 0.1L.
Earlier the global health watchdog revealed that in 2012, 3.3 million people over 15 years old died from drink-related diseases by drinking 6.2L of alcohol on average per year, via “the global status report on alcohol and health.”