15 Countries That Consume The Most Alcohol

Photo: Mitch Tobias | Getty Images From country to country around the world, people’s relationship with alcohol varies greatly. In some places it serves as a point of national identity, and in others it has become detrimental to a country's overall health. Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a comprehensive reporton the global status of alcohol, in order to help countries combat the harmful use of alcohol and avoid negative health and social consequences. Along with data on estimated cost of alcohol abuse, drinking ages and drunk-driving statistics, the report outlines overall alcohol consumption from the 193 WHO Member States. This data is presented by average annual per capita alcohol consumption (in liters of pure alcohol), drawing from both recorded sales figures and estimates of unrecorded usage, as well as further breaking it down by type of alcohol consumed. As far as alcohol consumption goes, the United States is middle-of-the-pack, consuming only 9.44 liters of alcohol per person, per year, which is approximately half of the most heavily drinking countries. One major trend: males consume more than females. This fact may not surprise most people, but there is only one county where this trend is reversed: Ecuador. In addition, the single heaviest drinking sub-group is males from Mali who describe themselves as drinkers. These individuals consume a whopping 62.10 liters of alcohol, on average, every year. However, this appears to be a small portion of the country’s population, as Mali's consumption average stands at 1.04 liters per person, per year.So which countries consume the most alcohol per person? Click ahead to find out! By Paul ToscanoPosted 9 Mar 2011

Photo: Terry Williams | Photographer's Choice | Getty Images Per capita alcohol consumption: 13.37 liters Recorded consumption: 11.67 liters Unrecorded consumption: 1.70 liters Per capita consumption by type (recorded) Beer: 4.93 liters Wine: 3.53 liters Spirits: 2.41 liters Other: 0.67 liters

Photo: Anger O. | Stock Image | Getty Images Per capita alcohol consumption: 13.66 liters Recorded consumption: 13.30 liters Unrecorded consumption: 0.36 liters Per capita consumption by type (recorded) Beer: 2.31 liters Wine: 8.14 liters Spirits: 2.62 liters Other: 0.17 liters

Photo: Holger Leue | Lonely Planet Images | Getty Images Per capita alcohol consumption: 14.41 liters Recorded consumption: 13.41 Unrecorded consumption: 1.00 Per capita consumption by type (recorded) Beer: 7.04 liters Wine: 2.75 liters Spirits: 2.51 liters Other: 1.09 liters

Photo: Travel Inc | Gallo Images | Getty Images Per capita alcohol consumption: 14.55 liters Recorded consumption: 14.55 liters Unrecorded consumption: 2.10 litres Per capita consumption by type (recorded) Beer: 3.75 liters Wine: 6.65 liters Spirits: 1.27 liters Other: 0.51 liters

Photo: Toshifumi Kitamura | Getty Images Per capita alcohol consumption: 14.80 liters Recorded consumption: 11.80 liters Unrecorded consumption: 3.00 liters Per capita consumption by type (recorded) Beer: 2.14 liters Wine: 0.06 liters Spirits: 9.57 liters Other: 0.04 liters

Photo: Sarah-Jane Joel | Photographer's Choice | Getty Images Per capita alcohol consumption: 15.11 liters Recorded consumption: 12.61 liters Unrecorded consumption: 2.50 liters Per capita consumption by type (recorded) Beer: 4.66 liters Wine: 5.80 liters Spirits: 1.91 liters Other: 0.14 liters

Photo: De Agostini | De Agostini Picture Library | Getty Images Per capita alcohol consumption: 15.13 liters Recorded consumption: 11.22 Unrecorded consumption: 3.91 Per capita consumption by type (recorded) Beer: 1.84 liters Wine: 0.80 liters Spirits: 4.08 liters Other: 2.67 liters

Photo: David Sutherland | Photographer's Choice | Getty Images Per capita alcohol consumption: 15.30 liters Recorded consumption: 11.30 liters Unrecorded consumption: 4.00 liters Per capita consumption by type (recorded) Beer: 4.07 liters Wine: 2.33 liters Spirits: 4.14 liters Other: 0.00 liters

Photo: Pearl Bucknall | Robert Harding World Imagery | Getty Images Per capita alcohol consumption: 15.48 liters Recorded consumption: 14.08 liters Unrecorded consumption: 1.40 liters Per capita consumption by type (recorded) Beer: 3.93 liters Wine: 5.69 liters Spirits: 3.14 liters Other: 0.00 liters

Photo: David Hogsholt | Getty Images Per capita alcohol consumption: 15.57 liters Recorded consumption: 13.77 liters Unrecorded consumption: 1.80 liters Per capita consumption by type (recorded) Beer: 5.53 liters Wine: 1.09 liters Spirits: 9.19 liters Other: 0.43 liters Pictured: A young man drinking from a bottle held by an event girl in the night club Hollywood in Tallinn, Estonia.

Photo: Sergei Supinski | AFP | Getty Images Per capita alcohol consumption: 15.60 liters Recorded consumption: 8.10 liters Unrecorded consumption: 7.50 liters Per capita consumption by type (recorded) Beer: 2.69 liters Wine: 0.58 liters Spirits: 5.21 liters Other: 0.02 liters Pictured: A young man quenches his thirst with a beer in downtown Kiev.

Photo: AP Per capita alcohol consumption: 15.76 liters Recorded consumption: 11.03 liters Unrecorded consumption: 4.73 liters Per capita consumption by type (recorded) Beer: 3.65 liters Wine: 0.10 liters Spirits: 6.88 liters Other: 0.34 liters Pictured: Women drinking beer outside, Moscow, Russia.

Photo: Attila Kisbenedek | AFP | Getty Images Per capita alcohol consumption: 16.27 liters Recorded consumption: 12.27 liters Unrecorded consumption: 4.00 liters Per capita consumption by type (recorded) Beer: 4.42 liters Wine: 4.94 liters Spirits: 3.02 liters Other: 0.14 liters

Photo: Getty Images Per capita alcohol consumption: 16.45 liters Recorded consumption: 14.97 liters Unrecorded consumption: 1.48 liters Per capita consumption by type (recorded) Beer: 8.51 liters Wine: 2.33 liters Spirits: 3.59 liters Other: 0.39 litersPhoto: Locals have a conversation over Pilsner Urquell beer at U Zlateho Tygra (Golden Tiger) in the Czech Republic.

Photo: AP Per capita alcohol consumption: 18.22 liters Recorded consumption: 8.22 liters Unrecorded consumption: 10.00 liters Per capita consumption by type (recorded) Beer: 4.57 liters Wine: 4.67 liters Spirits: 4.42 liters Other: 0.00 litersPictured: Barrels of wine in cellar, Cricova Winery in Cricova, Moldova

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