Britain’s relationship with booze is not always a healthy one. The very existence of Alcohol Awareness Week, which starts today, is proof that we need a bit of a steer towards sobriety.

But Britain is by no means the country with the biggest dependence on alcohol. Using data from the World Health Organisation, the map below colour-codes countries according to the amount of pure alcohol the average citizen aged 15 or over consumes in a year.

In Russia, they each drink a shade over 15 litres of pure alcohol per year, which is roughly equivalent to seeing off 155 bottles of wine annually – or 1,500 shots of vodka*.

However, Russia is not the most sozzled state. That dubious honour goes to Belarus, where 17.5 litres are consumed annually by your average Sergei.

The dominance of the Soviet Union/Eastern Bloc is remarkable. It must be the long winters

Moldova and Lithuania come next, and the dominance of the Eastern Bloc continues: Russia comes fourth, followed by Romania and Ukraine. Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia all quaff their way into the top ten, while France (18), Australia (19) and Ireland (21) feature in the top tier.

Britain is 25th overall. On average we each consume 11.6 litres of pure alcohol a year - the equivalent of around 119 bottles of wine or 408 pints of lager.

The US lags behind us on 9.2 litres per person - that's the same as 920 shots of Jack Daniels or 558 330ml bottles of Budweiser.

And the most abstinent countries? Unsurprisingly, they are mostly Muslim states where the sale and consumption of alcohol is restricted. In Pakistan, Mauritania, Libya and Kuwait the average citizen drinks just 100ml of pure alcohol a year - the equivalent of a single bottle of wine.

*Calculations based on a 13 per cent, 750ml bottle of wine (97.5ml of pure alcohol); a 40 per cent 25ml shot of vodka (10ml of pure alcohol); a five per cent pint (568ml) of lager (28.4ml of pure alcohol) and a five per cent 330ml bottle of Budweiser (16.5ml of pure alcohol).

The world's 10 booziest nations