Adult per capita alcohol consumption in litres of pure alcohol per adult (15 years +)Estimated amount of pure ethanol in litres of total alcohol, and separately beer, wine and spirits consumed per adult (15 years and older) in the country during a calendar year, as calculated from official statistics on production, sales, import and export, taking into account stocks whenever possible. Conversion factors used to estimate amount of pure alcohol in (barley) beer is 4.5%, wine 14% and spirits 42% of alcohol (other conversion factors were used for some types of beer and other beverages). Data are collected and calculations made mainly using three sources: FAOSTAT - United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization`s Statistical Database, World Drink Trends, regularly published by Produktschap voor Gedistilleerde Dranken (Netherlands) and in some cases direct government data. Data is available for most countries of the world since 1961 onwards.Data is presented for the groups of total, and also beer, wine and spirits separately. The category beer includes data on barley, maize, millet and sorghum beer combined. Please note that the amounts from beer, wine and spirits do not necessarily add up to the presented total, as in some cases the total includes other beverage categories, such as palm wine, vermouths, cider, fruit wines etc. It is important to note that these figures comprise in most cases of the recorded alcohol consumption only and have some inherent problems. Factors which influence the accuracy of per capita data are: informal production, tourist and overseas consumption, stockpiling, waste and spillage, smuggling, duty-free sales, variation in beverage strength and the quality of the data whereupon it is based. In some countries there exists a significant unrecorded alcohol consumption that should be added for a comprehensive picture of total alcohol consumption. |