It has been a festive winter season here in Seattle. We've had a record-breaking season for the Seahawks, snow falling on mountains, and holiday parties galore that have led many a Seattleite to a celebratory shot or a cold one. As the Seahawks head to the NFC Championship, I wonder how our alcohol consumption compares to countries that don't play American football. So I've decided to investigate which countries drink the most. Before we dive into the details, we need to conceptualize how much a liter of alcohol really is.
We are going to look at the U.S. Statistics first to get a good idea. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the average alcohol consumption among adults (15+) in liters per capita in 2010 was 9.2 liters (17% wine, 50% beer, 33% spirits).
We are going to look at the U.S. Statistics first to get a good idea. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the average alcohol consumption among adults (15+) in liters per capita in 2010 was 9.2 liters (17% wine, 50% beer, 33% spirits).
Now that we have a good picture in our heads, let's explore how we compare to other countries. We rank 47th for total consumption in liters per capita (out of 188 countries included). We drink 8.3 liters per capita less than the #1 country for alcohol consumption: Belarus.
So what's the conclusion? While I predict the beer consumption in Seattle for the championship game this weekend will be elevated, as a country we aren't nearly as high on the list as I imagined us to be.
