Home | Back | Print | Forward

Table 8: Heavy episodic drinkers among the adult population

Click on the header of a column to sort
Country Year Total (%) Male (%) Female (%)
a Consumption of seven or more standard drinks for males (five or more for females) on any one drinking occasion at least monthly.
b At least once a month six or more drinks on the same day.
c Among drinkers only
d Consumption of five or more drinks on one occasion at least once a month in the last year.
e At least once a week consumption of five or more standard drinks in one sitting.
f Consumption of five or more drinks on one occasion, 12 or more times in the last year.
g Consumption of six or more drinks on one occasion weekly or more.
h Consumption of six or more drinks on one occasion at least once a month in the last year.
Note: Countries in bold indicate that surveys were not national but regional. Please refer to individual country profiles for details of references/sources used.
Australia a 2001 13.4 15.3 11.6
Belgium b 2001 20.1 32.6 8.4
Bosnia and Herzegovina e 2003 1.2 2.9 0.0
Brazil e 2003 9.9 17.2 4.1
Burkina Faso e 2003 10.9 13.9 7.7
Canada c,f 2001-2002 20.1 28.3 11.2
Chad e 2003 12.3 17.2 7.9
China e 2003 3.8 7.5 0.3
Colombia g 2001-2002 5.2 11.6 1.9
Comoros (the) e 2003 0.2 0.4 0.0
Congo e 2003 5.2 8.3 2.5
Costa Rica c,d 2003   22.1 8.2
Côte d'Ivoire 2003 4.1 6.5 0.9
Czech Republic (the) c,d 2002   28.8 9.9
Dominican Republic (the) e 2003 9.1 15.7 3.5
Ecuador e 2003 4.7 9.3 1.2
Estonia e 2003 6.9 15.2 2.3
Ethiopia e 2003 4.1 7.7 0.4
Finland c,h 2000   49.1 14.1
France c,h 2000   27.9 9.7
Georgia e 2003 10.8 22.3 1.2
Germany c,d 2000   42.1 12.7
Ghana e 2003 1.4 2.5 0.4
Guatemala e 2003 1.3 3.4 0.2
Hungary e 2003 9.1 18.9 1.9
Iceland c,d 2001   42.7 20.0
India e 2003 1.4 2.9 0.1
Italy b,c 2001-2002   12.8 11.5
Japan c,h 2001   38.3 10.7
Kazakhstan 2003 4.4 8.8 2.0
Lao People's Dem. Republic (the) e 2003 12.3 20.9 4.8
Mexico c,d 1998   46.9 5.8
Namibia e 2003 6.2 9.5 4.0
Netherlands (the) c,h 1999   36.6 11.6
Nigeria c,d 2003   52.0 39.6
Paraguay e 2003 14.3 27.4 3.4
Philippines (the) e 2003 7.0 13.2 1.6
Russian Federation (the) b 2003 8.2 15.1 3.6
Slovakia b 2003 6.8 13.9 2.8
Spain e 2003 4.6 8.5 1.6
Sri Lanka e 2003 2.4 4.9 0.1
Ukraine e 2003 9.6 19.5 3.7
Uganda c,d 2003   46.0 17.6
The United Kingdom g 2000 17.0 24.0 9.0
Viet Nam e 2003 4.7 10.2 0.3
Zimbabwe e 2003 4.0 10.1 0.9

Source: WHO  Global Status Report on Alcohol 2004, p.28