Romania just took the crown. And it’s not even close.
The global drinking map has been redrawn. According to the latest data from the World Health Organization, compiled through the World Bank and featured by Our World in Data, a new country sits atop the list of the world’s heaviest drinkers — and the margin is staggering.
Here are the top 10 countries by pure alcohol consumption per capita, based on the most recent available data.
The Top 10
| Rank | Country | Litres of Pure Alcohol Per Person (Age 15+) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Romania | 16.80 |
| 2 | Georgia | 14.41 |
| 3 | Latvia | 12.87 |
| 4 | Lithuania | 12.10 |
| 5 | Czechia | 11.99 |
| 6 | Germany | 11.84 |
| 7 | Poland | 11.66 |
| 8 | Belarus | 11.63 |
| 9 | Bulgaria | 11.62 |
| 10 | Austria | 11.51 |
Source: WHO data via World Bank and Our World in Data
Romania: The New Heavyweight Champion
Romania’s 16.8 litres of pure alcohol per person per year is a full 2.4 litres ahead of second-place Georgia — a gap larger than the difference between Georgia and sixth-place Germany. It’s a commanding lead by any measure.
What’s driving it? A combination of culture, cost, and tradition. Beer remains the most consumed alcoholic beverage, preferred by roughly a third of the population. But traditional spirits play an outsized role, particularly țuică, a homemade plum brandy that is deeply embedded in rural life and often produced at home, bypassing official sales channels entirely. Alcohol is woven into weddings, funerals, festivals, and family gatherings — socially acceptable and culturally encouraged. And with alcohol relatively cheap and untaxed homemade varieties widely available, consumption stays high.
Georgia: An 8,000-Year-Old Wine Culture
Georgia’s second-place finish is no fluke. The country has a wine-making tradition stretching back over 8,000 years, and wine is inseparable from its religious and social life. The traditional qvevri method — fermenting wine in large clay vessels buried underground — is a UNESCO-recognized cultural heritage. Drinking isn’t a pastime in Georgia. It’s a ritual.
The Rest of the Top Five
Latvia (12.87 litres) and Lithuania (12.10 litres) continue the Baltic pattern of heavy consumption, where vodka and beer culture runs deep. Czechia (11.99 litres) rounds out the top five — a country so synonymous with beer that its citizens have consistently ranked among the world’s heaviest beer drinkers for decades. Pilsner was born here, and the average Czech still drinks more beer per capita than almost anyone else on Earth.
Europe Dominates — But Not Entirely
Eight of the top 10 countries are European. That’s not surprising. Europe has the highest average alcohol consumption of any region in the world, at roughly 9.2 litres per adult per year. Cultural traditions, relatively low prices, and strong tourism industries all contribute.
But the two non-European entries are worth noting. Georgia sits at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, and its drinking culture reflects both. And just outside the top 10, Uganda ranks highest in Africa at 11.30 litres, followed by Burkina Faso (11.27) and Tanzania (10.95).
What These Numbers Actually Mean
A critical caveat: these figures measure average consumption across the entire population aged 15 and above. They do not mean every person in Romania drinks 16.8 litres of pure alcohol a year. A relatively small group of heavy drinkers can account for a disproportionate share of a country’s total consumption, while a large portion of the population drinks little or not at all.
The data also includes both recorded and unrecorded alcohol consumption — meaning homemade spirits, informally sold alcohol, and cross-border purchases are factored in. For countries like Romania, where home-distilled țuică is a staple, that makes a significant difference. The figures are also adjusted for tourist consumption, so a country with a heavy tourism industry isn’t penalised for alcohol drunk by visitors rather than residents.
Finally, “drunkest” is a misleading word. Per-capita consumption is a population-level measure, not a measure of individual behaviour. A country can have high average consumption without having a high rate of alcohol use disorder. The two are related, but they are not the same thing.
A Different Way to Measure “Drunk”
If you define “drunkest” not by how much alcohol a country consumes, but by how often people report getting drunk, the ranking looks completely different.
The Global Drug Survey has repeatedly found that English-speaking countries dominate the intoxication frequency rankings. In one survey, Australia topped the list with respondents reporting being drunk an average of 26.7 times per year, followed by Denmark (23.8), Finland (23.8), the United States (23.1), and the United Kingdom (22.5). The UK has also ranked first in other surveys, with respondents reporting being drunk more than 33 times a year — compared to a global average of just over 20.
So which country is actually the drunkest? It depends on whether you’re measuring volume or frequency. Romania drinks the most. Australia gets drunk the most often. Both are true. Neither tells the whole story.
The Bottom Line
Romania’s rise to the top of the global alcohol consumption ranking is a genuine shift — and one that raises serious questions about public health, pricing, and the cultural normalisation of heavy drinking. Georgia’s wine-soaked traditions and the Baltic states’ entrenched drinking cultures aren’t far behind.
But numbers only tell you so much. A high average can hide a sober majority. A low average can mask a drinking crisis among a minority. And the countries that drink the most aren’t always the countries that get the drunkest.
The world’s drinking map is more complicated than a single ranking can capture. But if you’re looking for the heaviest drinkers on Earth, you’ll find them in Eastern Europe — and they’ve earned the title.
