Eastern And Western Europe’s Alcoholic Void

Levels of alcohol consumption vary widely across Europe, with a large gulf separating East and West when it comes to litres of pure alcohol consumed in a year amongst drinkers. According to a new report from the World Health Organisation, Moldovan drinkers (15+) consumed 25.4 litres of pure alcohol in 2010. Poland came second with 24.2 litres while Portugal rounded off the top three with 22.6 litres.

Iceland, Italy and Norway were at the lower end of the scale with 10.4, 9.9 and 9.0 litres consumed per capita respectively during the same period. The void between Western and Eastern Europe can be attributed to the consumption of spirits with a far higher concentration of alcohol as opposed to beer.