Which country has the heaviest drinkers?
The world’s heaviest drinkers aren’t necessarily the Irish, Germans, or Russians such as one would stereotypically assume. This may surprise you but according to data, South Korea drinks more than the rest of the booze chugging world by far.
South Koreans drink about 13.7 shots of liquor per week, Russia is in second place with less than half that much at 6.3 shots per week.
The South Korean most popular drink of choice is traditional rice liquor known as Soju. In 2014 the Jinro Soju drink made $71 million dollars in global sales.
Most Soju drinkers have the liquor with beer and call it ‘somac’ and it’s also quite common to drink Soju neat. The rice liquor has a fat 20% alcohol content so it’s easy to see why South Koreans are the world’s heaviest drinkers and why they are buzzing way much more than the rest of us.
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Americans take about 3.3 shots per week, beating out Germany, France, and Ireland. Don’t worry South Africans we are on the list (not that it’s a competition or anything). We happen to be on par with Belgium and Austria, beating out the wine loving Italians by 0.4 shots per week.
According to a source, drinking in South Korea isn’t just a social activity, but a work obligation. Amy Barnwell moved to South Korea last year to teach English. She shared something interesting about South Korean culture that may help explain why they are the world’s heaviest drinkers.
“Work drinks are considered an obligatory part of the job. Drinking with co-workers is a way to determine what sort of person you are outside the workplace, and whether your colleagues are going to get along with you. There are also a strong set of etiquette rules that apply to these situations, and refusing a drink is a big no.”
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