Alcohol habits vary wildly from one corner of the globe to another, shaped by centuries of tradition, climate, religion, and everyday social life. Some nations built entire economies and cultural identities around wine cellars, brewing houses, or homemade spirits, while others barely touch a drop due to religious restrictions. Using the most recent internationally comparable data, drawn largely from World Health Organization figures reported through 2022 and still cited as the latest available benchmark in 2026, here is a look at the countries where people drink the most pure alcohol per person each year.
Romania
Romania recorded the highest per-capita alcohol consumption in 2022, the most recent data available as of 2026, at 17.1 liters of pure alcohol per year, a figure nearly triple the global average consumption rate.[1] Romania sits comfortably at the very top of the world rankings.[1] The gap between Romania and everyone else isn’t small either.
The gap between Romania and the rest of the field is wide enough that it has held the top spot for several consecutive reporting periods.[1] Wine and homemade spirits have long shaped Romanian drinking culture, particularly in rural areas, while beer has also grown steadily, along with homemade plum brandy, tuica, a national favorite.[1] Village celebrations and family gatherings across the country still often revolve around a bottle passed between neighbors.
Georgia
Georgia lands in second place with a consumption level well above most of Europe, following Romania at 15.5 liters of pure alcohol per year.[1] The country’s relationship with wine runs deep, with archaeological evidence pointing to winemaking traditions stretching back thousands of years.
Supra, the traditional Georgian feast built around long toasts and shared bottles, remains a cornerstone of social life there. Homemade wine production for personal use is still common in rural households, which likely nudges the recorded figures even higher than official trade statistics alone would suggest.
Latvia
Latvia ranks third globally at 14.7 liters of pure alcohol per year, according to the most recent data cited in 2026.[2] The Baltic nation has seen a notable climb in consumption over the past decade or so, a trend that health officials there have flagged repeatedly.
Binge drinking patterns are part of the picture too, with regional surveys showing a meaningful share of Latvians reporting heavy episodic drinking at least monthly. Cold winters and a strong beer and spirits culture both play a role in keeping Latvia near the very top of the list.
Moldova
Moldova comes in fourth worldwide with 14.1 liters of pure alcohol consumed per person annually, based on the latest comparative figures available.[2] This is a country where wine isn’t just a beverage, it’s essentially woven into the national economy.
Moldova’s wine regions, including Nistreana known for reds and Codru home to some of the world’s largest wine cellars, support an industry that employs a significant portion of the workforce and contributes heavily to the national budget.[3] That economic weight helps explain why wine consumption stays so consistently high across generations.
Czechia
The Czech Republic, often simply called Czechia, is famous worldwide for its beer culture, recording 13.7 liters of pure alcohol per year, placing it fifth globally.[1] Few nations can match the country’s per-capita beer output or its historical role in brewing.[1]
The country is credited with the creation of the popular pilsner style, and beer there isn’t treated as a luxury item but as an everyday staple, often cheaper than bottled water in some restaurants.[1] That pricing reality alone tells you a lot about why consumption stays elevated year after year.
Lithuania
Lithuania has spent years near the top of European drinking charts, and the latest data keeps it firmly in the group, recording 12.18 liters of pure alcohol per capita and placing it sixth in the global ranking.[1] That’s actually a modest decline from earlier peak levels the country recorded over the last decade.
Government efforts to raise excise taxes and restrict advertising have chipped away at consumption slightly, though Lithuania remains firmly embedded among Europe’s heaviest-drinking nations. Beer and stronger spirits both remain widely available and culturally normalized there.
Namibia
Namibia, in seventh place globally, is the highest-ranked non-European nation, consuming 12 liters of alcohol per person a year.[4] That makes it something of an outlier on a list otherwise dominated almost entirely by European countries.
Europe records the highest levels of alcohol consumption per capita, with Central and Eastern European countries leading the rankings, and of the top 30 countries with the highest alcohol consumption, 22 of them are in Europe.[4] Namibia’s placement stands out precisely because it breaks that pattern so clearly.
Austria
Austria follows closely with about 12 liters of pure alcohol per year per capita, nearly identical to several other countries clustered around that mark.[5] Wine regions in the country’s east and a strong beer tradition in the west both feed into the national average.
Alpine drinking culture, tied to festivals, ski season apres-ski gatherings, and long winter evenings, keeps consumption steady across both urban and rural areas. Austria’s numbers have stayed fairly consistent over the past several reporting cycles rather than swinging sharply in either direction.
Bulgaria
Bulgaria records roughly 11.9 liters of pure alcohol per year per capita, placing it just behind Austria and Seychelles in the broader ranking.[5] Wine production has a long history in the country, and rakia, a strong fruit brandy, remains a household staple at gatherings.
Bulgaria is one of several countries in the region, alongside Lithuania, Poland, Belarus, Hungary, and Slovakia, that reported annual consumption levels above 11 liters per person.[2] That regional clustering says a lot about how deeply drinking habits are shared across Central and Eastern Europe.
Poland
As of the most recent comparable year, average per-capita alcohol consumption by Poles was 11.63 liters.[3] Vodka remains closely tied to Polish identity, though beer consumption has grown substantially in recent decades.
A report by the OECD found that roughly one in three adults in Poland engage in binge drinking at least once a month, which corresponds to drinking more than most of a bottle of wine or one and a half liters of beer in a single sitting.[3] Those binge patterns matter because they push overall averages higher even when day to day drinking looks moderate.
Hungary
Hungary is among the countries that reported annual alcohol consumption levels above 11 liters per person, placing it firmly within the upper tier of European drinkers.[2] Wine production in regions like Tokaj and Eger has centuries of history behind it, and palinka, a traditional fruit brandy, remains a fixture at celebrations.
Beer consumption has also climbed steadily in Hungary over recent years, following a broader Central European pattern. Together, these habits keep the country solidly among the world’s heavier-drinking nations rather than an outlier.
Slovakia
Slovakia rounds out the group of countries reporting annual consumption levels above 11 liters per person, alongside neighbors Lithuania, Poland, Bulgaria, Belarus, and Hungary.[2] Eastern European countries dominate the world’s highest alcohol consumption rankings overall, and Slovakia’s numbers fit squarely into that broader regional pattern.[2]
Beer and homemade spirits both remain common across Slovak households, and drinking habits there closely mirror those of neighboring Czechia and Poland. For comparison, the United States recorded annual alcohol consumption of 9.8 liters of pure alcohol per person in 2022, placing it well above the global average, while other high-consuming developed countries included Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Australia, and Ireland, all reporting levels near or above 10 liters per year.[2] That places Slovakia and its Eastern European neighbors several liters ahead of most Western nations on this particular measure.
