‘World's biggest boozers’ revealed and it’s not who you think it might be

The world’s biggest boozers have been revealed, and it might not be the country that you’re thinking of.

It’s hard to consider which countries might have the biggest problem with binge-drinking without resorting to tired old stereotypes.

For example, people in the UK and Ireland famously drink a lot, and those in Germany and Belgium are known to enjoy their beer.

Aussies? They love a good swally as much as the next person.

People from the USA famously can’t handle their ale.

But, it turns out that not only are these cliches outdated, they’re also wrong, as the countries that actually top the list of binge-drinkers worldwide are quite different.

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OK, so the UK is still in third place, but the other two might be a bit more surprising.

No, it’s not somewhere like Saudi Arabia.

In fact, they’ll be right down the bottom of the table, given that drinking is illegal there.

But still, you probably won’t immediately guess it.

This crown is nothing to be proud of, as it just measures the number of adults who report binge-drinking at least once per month.

The news comes as the OECD – Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development – has released their health league data, which proves once and for all that the Brits are amongst the heaviest drinkers going.

According to that, within the 33 countries studied, the average proportion of heavy drinkers was 19 percent.

Now, there’s quite a big discrepancy there, though.

For example, just three percent of people in Turkey said that they were binge-drinking at least once per month, which can perhaps be accounted for by the number of people who are tee-total for religious reasons.

Right at the top though – drum roll – is Denmark.

The Scandinavian country - which also frequently, and perhaps coincidentally, features at the top end of the happiness index – sits atop the binge-drinking charts, with a gigantic 37 percent of the population admitting to regular binging.

In the UK, more than a third of people – 35 percent in total – admitted to binge-drinking on the regular, sitting behind only the Danes and Romania.

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Obviously, this is concerning, and those from Alcohol awareness campaign groups certainly aren’t laughing or seeing this as a badge of honour.

Dr Richard Piper, chief executive of Alcohol Change UK, told PA News Agency: “Alcohol causes too much harm here in the UK. But this is totally avoidable.

“There is an overwhelming need for the Government to introduce measures that we know will reduce alcohol harm and save lives such as proper controls on alcohol marketing, introducing minimum unit pricing in England like we already have in Scotland and Wales, and clearer alcohol labelling.”

However, in better news, the UK has lower average smoking rates than the other countries surveyed, though one in 20 people admitted to vaping regularly, which is above the average.

Topics: UK News, World News, Pubs, Food And Drink

Tom Wood

Tom Wood is a LADbible journalist and Twin Peaks enthusiast. Despite having a career in football cut short by a chronic lack of talent, he managed to obtain degrees from both the University of London and Salford. According to his French teacher, at the weekend he mostly likes to play football and go to the park with his brother. Contact Tom on [email protected]

@TPWagwim