I'm from Australia and I'm drinking whilst I do this quiz. I'm very surprised that Ireland is not on this quiz. Must be a mistake surely?! I went out for Korean on my birthday recently, and had soju for the first time. Boy, is that stuff easy to drink. It's no wonder South Korea is on this list.
I used to live in Seoul and it's no surprise to me at all that they make this list, and previously were the only non-European country on it. Korean drink and they drink often and hard. *Every* night people are going out to the soju bars, sidedish bars, hostess bars, juicy bars, noraebangs, and nightclubs and they often stay out all night long. In the mornings you see businessmen in suits waking up on the streets and benches because they were too drunk to get home the night before. It's a work hard/party hard lifestyle and it goes nonstop.
I think it is what they refer to as South Korea's "Pali-pali" culture. Pali-pali meaning "faster faster" or "hurry up". People are apparently under a lot of stress to achieve and succeed, to be working and playing all the time. It is believed to be a major contributor to their high suicide rate. I saw a documentary on this bridge in Seoul, they actually call "Suicide Bridge" because so many people commit suicide there. There is actually a water police boat solely devoted to patrolling that section of the river to rescue people committing suicide off that particular bridge.
I'm surprised that the USA, Germany, Ireland, Brazil and Cuba (or for that matter, most Caribbean islands) aren't on the list, but little Andorra is. I've been to Munich, Hamburg, Essen and Berlin and all they Do is drink! As for Cuba and the Caribbean islands... rum is their water. In the urban areas of NY, NJ, PA, FL and MA, just try getting into a bar after 5 O'clock on a Thursday and Friday night.
I guess this is all about regularity...from what I have experienced, in germany, uk, usa, etc people only drink at night...and i think they drink higher amounts of alcool but more occasionally...besides, don´t forget there are a lot of muslim/hindi/buddhist people in those countries. In Portugal most of the people drink and at almost every meal even though lower amounts each time. you go to slavic europe and there are a lot of people just drinking the whole day especially outside the main towns...and really strong booze.We are not talking about parties here... Parties represent a lower percentage of this amount. I am not surprised to not see UK, USA or Germany...these countries they get smashed when going out, but no routine at least in average
I am pretty sure that Belarus should be on the list. In 2009 they were top of the list according to the WHO. Things must have change pretty drastically for them to no longer be on the list.
The Seychelles should be listed with an asterisk. The population is so small that the prodigious drinking of resident Abner McGillicutty alone vaults them from the middle of the pack into the top twenty.
Wine seems not to count for some reason. Growing up, we drank red wine at lunch and dinner (something about red wine being good for the blood, or the heart or something or the other). All it did was give me tremendous headaches. It wasn't until I went away to school (where there was no wine) that I finally made the connection. To this day I will drink just about ANYTHING but red wine!
Why does Nigeria appear on so many lists where you wouldnt expect it (that is exactly the reason I DID get it this time, "I cant think of any more, well lets try nigeria, it shows up everywhere" ) often as the only african country. What is different about it?
also seychelles are standing out on this list. Party island?
Nigeria's prominence may be due to a number of factors, including being the most populous country in Africa (7th in the world), having the largest city in Africa (Lagos), 250+ ethnic groups and 500+ languages. Also, it's about evenly split between the two largest world religions (with occasional "issues" between them).
While all of that is normally true, it doesn't explain why Nigeria drinks so heavily. After all, it's a per capita basis--if it showed up on an absolute quiz I'd be less surprised. Also, as multiple people have mentioned, the fact that half of the country is Muslim probably means incredibly high drinking among the Christian population. Not to mention the fact that it's still relatively poor, and poor people usually tend to focus on purchasing things needed for survival and not alcohol.
Although, seeing as it's not on the list anymore, I wonder if it was a fluke.
Given that half Nigeria's population is Muslim, I find that almost impossible to belief. That means the non Muslim Nigerians are the world leaders in drinking by a long way.
Hey QM, unrelated to the actual quiz, but sometimes on mobile when scrolling down I accidentally hit the language button. Even after clicking away, it locks out the place to type an answer in and removes the timer. Could you please fix this?
I thought Burkina Faso was a majority Muslim country? I tried guessing some countries in sub-Saharan Africa, but I would never have tried Burkina Faso.
Uhh, Seychelles? What's going on there? Uganda? And perhaps even more perplexingly, Burkina Faso?? Isn't that a majority Muslim country? Seems very random that these countries make it, especially considering much of Africa is seems pretty dry (in terms of alcohol).
ok these WHO data make no sense. Belarus and Poland drink less than France :-D good joke. French are usually dead after Polish warm-up on Friday night. Not to mention that Russia the country of drunkards is not even on the list.
Interesting how Burkina Faso is majority muslim and that high on the list. I eliminated majority muslim countries cuz I was thinking there's no way you'd find most of them on here
What's the point of making a quiz on alcohol consumption when it's only hard liquor? Beer, wine, etc. are also alcoholic drinks that are likely far more common.
Reading the comments, it’s interesting to see how many times this has changed pretty drastically. I don’t understand how Burkina Faso can be on this list having a majority muslim population.
But I saw Serbia and the other baltic states
Source: http://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.main.A1026?lang=en?showonly=GISAH
???
also seychelles are standing out on this list. Party island?
Although, seeing as it's not on the list anymore, I wonder if it was a fluke.
I assume something to do with how the statistics are measured etc.
It was the wildest guess possible, too
Litres of pure alcohol consumption per year.
Romania 17
Georgia 14.3
Czechia 13.3
Latvia 13.1
Germany 12.2
Uganda 12.2
Austria 12
Seychelles 12
Bulgaria 11.9
Lithuania 11.8
Ireland 11.7
Poland 11.6
Lao People's Democratic Republic 11.5
Luxembourg 11.5
Republic of Moldova 11.4
Estonia 11.3
France 11.3
Andorra 11.1
Slovenia 11
Belarus 10.9