Consuming alcohol is a personal decision, but the culture in which a person is born determines their possibilities of doing so – an Iranian has a difficult time being fond of whiskey – and what type of drink they will prefer: probably, a Pole will like vodka more than wine, since the opposite will happen to a Spaniard.
The environment also influences what is meant by hitting the bottle. In Russia, beer was not considered an alcoholic beverage for legal purposes until 2013.
These cultural factors make it difficult to compare alcohol consumption among Europeans, but a team of researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology has collaborated with colleagues from 40 states on the old continent to measure drinking habits in 20 European countries and Israel.
Ireland, a solid leader
The data indicates that our Portuguese neighbors are the ones who take the most occasional big drunks – usually on the weekend – followed by the English. But those who drink the most on a regular basis are the Irish. Research shows that men consume twice as much alcohol as women, and that the least elbow-highs are women in Israel and central and eastern Europe.
And Spain? We are the ones who drink the least on the list, both on weekdays and on weekends.
The work also yields a surprising conclusion: people with good economic status drink more, while those from lower social strata are more likely to get drunk from time to time.
