British alochol consumption is more than most other countries in the world, shocking new figures reveal.
Boozy Brits, on average knock back the equivalent of a whopping 15.5 litres of pure alcohol a year.
We can drink most other countries under the table, with only our friends in eastern Europe guzzle more.
The staggering statistics have been uncovered for a new report from the World Health Organisation, which investigated levels of boozing across the planet between 2000 and 2005.
Taking into account those who do not drink, the average person in the UK will drink 67 pints of beer annually – that’s 13.4 litres of pure alcohol.
British men neck twice as much as women in the country, supping an average of 22 litres of alcohol, the equivalent of 110 pints of beer.
Women drinkers in the UK imbibe just 9.46 litres of pure alcohol in 12 months – the amount which is found in 47 pints of beer.
Beer is the drink of choice in Britain, accounting for two-fifths of the total alcohol consumed.
However, Britain escaped the dubious honour of being the biggest drinkers on the planet.
The Moldovans earned that title, getting through 18 litres for each member of the population a year, and 32 litres on average among those men who are drinkers.
The Russians were also one of the few countries to topple us when it comes to tipples, with the average man there drinking 27 litres of pure alcohol every 12 months.
That’s 135 glasses of beer a year, or nine bottles of vodka, the most popular drink there.
It’s incredible to think, though that only one in five men in the Russian Federation and its neighbouring countries die due to alcohol-related causes.
The American’s are soft touches altogether, on average drinking just 47 pints of beer a year – one of the world’s lowest levels of boozing.
Those in the US who enjoy a beverage get through 72 pints of beer a year, but an amazing 35 per cent of Americans don’t drink alcohol at all.
But then there’s the Muslim countries, where most people don’t drink at all. The average intake is less than 10 glasses of beer.
The Brits can certainly teach the world a thing or two, with half of the male and two-thirds of the female population of the world not ever even touching a drop of alcohol.
No prizes for guessing France’s favourite drop. It’s wine, with the average adult getting through 50 glasses of the stuff a year.
The figures also revealed that the average worldwide consumption is the equivalent of 6.13 litres of pure alcohol a year.
THE Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health 2011 also showed that the highest number of drinking-related deaths in Europe and America occurred between the ages of 15 and 29.
