Per capita alcohol consumption in Singapore 2005-2018

Singaporeans consumed on average around two liters of alcohol each in 2018, which was among the lowest in Asia-Pacific. This was partly due to the heavy taxation of alcoholic beverages in Singapore. Even so, health officials were concerned about a rise in unhealthy drinking habits among the young.

Too expensive to get drunk?

Averaging at around 24 U.S. dollars for a bottle of table wine and eight U.S. dollars for a pint of beer, Singapore is one of the most expensive cities worldwide for consuming alcohol. It was probably unsurprising that the country had one of the lowest alcohol consumption rates in Asia-Pacific.

Drinking your money’s worth

Despite the high prices, many Singaporeans were still able to afford alcoholic beverages, and bars and pubs frequently offer happy hour and all-you-can-drink specials, or “liquid buffets”, to attract patrons. Wednesdays in Singapore are synonymous with Ladies’ Night, where bars all over the city offer special deals to attract female customers, mostly in the form of free-flow drinks. To put it in perspective, Singaporean females consume around three times less alcohol than their male counterparts. Such deals, however, can be seen to encourage binge drinking, especially among the younger drinkers, for whom alcohol would otherwise be an expensive indulgence.