Those of you who enjoy wine, beer, spirits, should be thankful for these countries that produce the most alcohol in the world. They are your daily suppliers of good alcoholic beverages.
Alcohol has been here since the dawn of times with the earliest discoveries of intentionally fermented drinks tracing to 10,000–5,000 BC. Now alcohol industry is at its peak. It has been estimated that in the year 2014, alcoholic beverage industry was worth beyond $1 trillion. Keep in mind that trillion contains 12 zeroes, making the alcoholic industry one of the largest in the world. Alcohol is also being labeled as one of the most used recreational drugs, although we frankly doubt that beer or wine lovers will ever say that they are addicts. Alcohol has become a part of the culture in some countries and important social activity.
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European countries are well ahead of others in terms of alcohol consumption per capita. According to the data collected by WHO, Belarus and Moldova have alcohol consumption of 17 liters per capita in a year, which is more than in any other country in the world.
Although drinking alcohol may seem like fun and interesting activity, it isn’t always like that. When consumed out of proportions, it can lead to some serious health issues. Besides that, alcohol is sometimes a key factor in domestic abuse. This is why alcohol consumption must be moderate.
There are three main categories of alcoholic drinks: beer, wine, and spirits. Since there are no data available on overall alcohol production in each country we decided to find the biggest producers of these three categories. On Vine Pair, we found data on the biggest selling spirits producers in the world and given each country 2 points for producing company on the list. On Italian Wine Central and World Atlas we found data about biggest beer and wine producers. Each country received points from 1 – 10 based on their production capacities of alcoholic drinks in each category. After summing up the scores, we got our results and the list of countries that produce the most alcohol in the world.
If you would like to know more top producing countries in the world, check out our list of countries that produce the most apples in the world.
8. Mexico
The main alcoholic beverage that comes to mind when you think of Mexico is tequila of course. They are the biggest tequila producing country in the world, and frankly the best. But did you know that Mexico also produces around 8.25 million kiloliters of beer per year? That must be one tipsy country.
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7. Russia
How could we skip Russia? This large country with a large amount of alcohol lovers (not just vodka) surely produces a lot of their own alcohol. Russia produces around 9 million kiloliters of beer per year and around 5 million hectoliters of wine. The biggest producing vodka company in the world is also based in here.
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6. Germany
Germany doesn’t like to focus on just one alcoholic beverage. Instead, they are producing everything. Jagermeister is one of the biggest liqueur companies in the world, but Germany also produces a fair amount of wine. Of course, these beer lovers produce the most beer in Europe as well.
5. Scotland
When it comes to spirits, Scotland is dominant among these 8 countries that produce the most alcohol in the world. Almost all the biggest selling whiskey companies are based in Scotland, and they produce some of the best whiskeys in the world. Johnnie Walker, Chivas Regal and Ballantine’s are just a few of famous Scotland’s whiskeys.
4. Italy
Italy made it on our list primarily thanks to almost 50 million hectoliters of wine produced every year. It’s as they swim in it. Just because they produce it in such large quantities, it doesn’t mean that their wine is bad. It is one of the best in the world. Besides wine, Italians are producing few famous brands of liqueur.
3. China
The absolute king of beers in the past 12 years, at least when you take the quantities into consideration. 46.5438 million kiloliters of beer produced, and China doesn’t plan to stop here. Every year China is increasing its beer production, and they produce double of the amount that produces the US on a yearly basis. China also produces respectable amounts of wine, with 11 million hectoliters in 2015.
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2. France
France was never much into beers, which is proven by the fact that they are not among 10 countries that produce the most beer. But they make it up on the other fields. France produced 47 million of hectoliters of wine in the last year alone. Alongside Scotland, France is one of the biggest spirits producers in the world with their production of cognac, vodka, and liqueurs.
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1. The United States of America
Unlike France that could have easily ended up on the first place of our 8 countries that produce the most alcohol in the world, United States of America really produces everything. When it comes to spirits they produce whiskey and vodka, with Jack Daniels being their crown jewel. They also produce 22 million hectoliters of wine every year and on top of that they are second largest beer producing country in the world with 22 million kiloliters of beer. Want to know more about America’s love towards alcohol? Let’s just say that they are the biggest alcohol consumers in the world by volume.
