The World Health Organization (WHO) keeps Substance Abuse Country Profiles for each of the world’s countries. Most recently, it was able to get data from 171 out of 194 (88%) Member States. One of the goals of the work is to cut down on the harmful use of alcohol. And in some nations, it is a serious problem.
The basic metric for alcohol use is “liters consumed per capita per year.” According to Alcohol.org, the nation at the top of the list is Belarus at 14.4 liters. That is over one and a half times the US level. The nation has tried to dodge the truth of the statistics. However, “While the Belarusian government was quick to deny the statistics published by WHO, national anti-alcohol programs were implemented in order to decrease the level of consumption.”
Lithuania follows Belarus at 12.9 liters, Grenada at 11.9, and The Czech Republic at 11.8. The figure for France is also 11.8. Close behind, the figure for Russia is 11.5. The US number is 8.7 liters, ranking 25th among all the nations measured. This is the drunkest city in every state in America.
Belarus is in Eastern Europe and is landlocked. Poland is on its western border, as is Lithuania, and Russia is on its eastern one. It is just north of Ukraine. The country has a population of 9.3 million people.
According to The World Factbook, Belarus is a relatively advanced economy. GDP per capita sits at about $19,000. That figure is 91st in the world. Income is relatively high because the country is a manufacturing center.
What demographics do not tell is why some countries have heavy drinking numbers. Several of those at the top of the list are in Eastern Europe. However, that is not proof of anything.
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